This Kiss
by hiially
Summary: "I hate Tori Vega. That's no secret. But here's something you don't know: Tori Vega likes kissing me. At least, that's the way it seems." Tori develops a habit of kissing Jade when they're alone. Jade doesn't know what's going on, but goes along with it anyway. It doesn't take long for things to get messy.
1. Chapter 1

I hate Tori Vega. I know what you're thinking. You're not reading this to find out things you already knew. Well, here's a not so known fact to sate your curiosity: Tori Vega likes kissing me. At least, that's how it seems. She has made a fabulous habit out of doing just that whenever she gets the chance. The thing that's driving me nuts is what she does afterwards: she leaves.

Ignoring the fact that it's Tori Vega kissing me, you know, I'm all for kissing. I don't really care if there aren't any strings attached. I'm good at it, it's fun. But you can't just pull someone into a coat closet, press your body all up on them, kiss them, and then leave without a single utterance. I'm losing my mind over here.

Acknowledging the fact that it is Tori Vega, well, I don't really know what to do about that.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. It might make more sense to rewind and start from the first time it happened and work our way forward from there. It's probably a futile attempt because I've been living it day by day and still don't get what the hell is going on.

Anyway, here goes nothing.

The first time Vega kissed me was around the time we did that play where Sikowitz made us act as a married couple. We had stayed late after rehearsal one day to run through lines a few more times by ourselves. Since it was my idea, I reluctantly offered to give her a ride home after we were finished.

"Thanks, Jade. I just have to stop at my locker really fast." She said with a smile as we walked down the hall.

"Whatever." I said as I continued to walk by her and make my way to my own locker to gather my things. I was searching for the printed copy of a script I had been working on when I felt a pair of slender hands grip my hips and spin me around. To my bewilderment, it was Vega that was the owner of those hands.

"What are you..." I started to say, though she cut me off with a swift kiss. Her hands felt like ice on my neck, but her lips were igniting a fire inside me. A wet tongue licked at my lower lip asking for entrance, but before I could comply Vega had pulled herself away from me and was already walking towards the door.

"Come on, Jade. I don't wanna spend my entire night in school." She said with an air of nonchalance that astonished me. I followed her out of the school and into my car. Vega sang along with the radio as we drove to her house. Never once mentioning the kiss. Never once bothering to explain why she did it.

"See you tomorrow, Jade." She said once I pulled into her driveway.

"Yeah, get outta my car." I said snidely. She didn't look dejected as she got out and flounced up to her front door. I couldn't help the way my eyes were attracted to the sway of her hips.

Wait, I couldn't?

I peeled out of her driveway, shaking away these thoughts she had begun to elicit in me. I do not like Tori Vega. I don't like anything about her. The fact that she caught me off guard and kissed me means absolutely nothing.

The following morning at school, our lives went on as normal. She laughed with Cat and flirted with Andre as though she hadn't shoved me into my locker and kissed me the night before. I did my best to remain cavalier about what was going on inside my head. Whatever. It was just a fluke. Nothing that needed any more consideration than I had already given in. So I was just going to push it out of my mind and do exactly what Vega was doing: ignore it.

It would have worked wonderfully if I had done the smart thing and neglected the invitation to Nozu with everyone after school two days later. Somehow it turned into me picking Vega up on my way to the restaurant from my house, since everyone else was going in Beck's truck and there wouldn't be enough room. I think this was Beck's ploy. He's been trying to get Vega and I to be friends since she came here. Maybe he even knew about her new habit. I doubted that though. He probably would have tried to sleaze in a three-way if he knew.

I pulled into her driveway and honked twice, indicating my arrival. A few minutes later, she came out the front door and hurried up to my car.

"Sorry, Trina's trying some new beauty remedy. She got mustard everywhere and I had to change." She said apologetically once she buckled herself in.

"Yeah, I don't care." I said dismissively as I pulled out of her driveway and headed towards Nozu.

We drove in silence this time. I didn't even bother putting on the radio. I wanted Vega to feel uncomfortable. Maybe she'd start rambling about why she thought it was a good idea to kiss me.

I didn't get that lucky. Her lips remained sealed as she sat staring out the window. We pulled into the parking lot and I saw the line waiting outside of the restaurant.

"Christ. We're going to be waiting forever." I grumbled once I found a spot.

"No, everyone else is already here with a table." Vega said cheerily as we approached the restaurant.

"Well, I don't want to scramble through that crowd, so let's go to the side door." I said as I pointed at the mass of people in front of us. I began to lead the way to the side of the building. We were walking down the small alley that lead to the entrance when she clasped onto my wrist and pulled me back. A gasp of surprise left my lips as she pressed her body flush against me and attacked my lips with a fervor I didn't know she possessed. This time the kiss lasted long enough for me to respond, my hands clutching at her hips in spite of myself.

She removed herself from my grasp and quickly as she initiated the kiss, heading into the building without me. I stood there for a moment, my fingers gently tracing my lips as I thought about how crazy this girl was being.

"Damn, girl, what happened to your hair?" Andre asked me when I finally composed myself enough to walk inside and join them.

"It's windy." I barked, casting an evil look at Vega. She smiled at me, innocent as ever, as she took a seat next to Andre.

It was progressing. The first kiss, she hardly allowed enough time for me to react, gone before I could assess what was happening. This time, she graciously accepted my action. Where was this going? And why?

We agreed to go to her house afterwards. It was a Friday night, and Vega had informed us during dinner that her parents were gone for the weekend.

"So, it's a party then?" Andre said with a grin.

"Might as well!" Vega laughed.

"I have to go home first." I announced, breaking my silence since I had arrived. Beck casted me a sideways glance, indicating he was catching on to my slightly weird behavior.

"Well, we've probably all got our own thing to do. We'll just meet at Tori's around seven. Sound cool?" Beck instructed, maintaining that cool demeanor of his. Everyone nodded their agreements as we finished our meal. Clearly, I had to take Vega back to her house, which I did so in record time.

When I pulled into her driveway this time, I put my car in park and locked the doors before she could get out. She looked at me with alarm in her eyes and I turned to face her.

"What the fuck is going on, Vega?" I asked, slightly frustrated already.

"What are you talking about?" She asked nervously.

"Why do you keep...you keep kissing me!" I hissed.

She smiled slyly, "You keep kissing back. Now, if you don't mind, I have to get ready for tonight. I'll see you later." She said, throwing in a wink as I reluctantly unlocked the car door.

Jesus Christ, what was going on with the world?

On my way back to my place, Beck called me offering to give me a ride to the party. I accepted. Hey, we may be broken up but we're still friends.

"So what was going on with you at dinner?" He said once I got in the car.

"It's been a weird day." I said simply, buckling myself in.

Beck nodded, accepting that as my answer, "So you are willingly going to this party?" He asked with speculation, "I mean, no one even had to bribe you."

"I've got nothing better to do. Might as well." I said with a shrug.

"I'm sure Tori will love to hear that the only reason you're coming is because you have nothing else going on." Beck said sarcastically.

"We both know that she'll be too smitten with the fact that I'm even there to care about my reasoning." I said with a matter of fact tone to my voice. Beck had no retort, and instead just nodded and shrugged his agreement. If there's another thing Vega likes, it's being in my presence. I couldn't tell you why since all I do is torture that girl and ridicule everything she does.

"You should be nicer to her, Jade." Beck said, breaking the silence again.

I groaned dramatically, "I am nice to her."

"Yesterday at lunch you spit in her coffee when she went to the bathroom." He scolded.

"She left it open." I said nonchalantly.

"Not for someone to spit in it!" He reprimanded me.

"Whatever, Beck." I said, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms, bringing my attention to the scenery we were speeding by. I was getting irritated with the assumptions he was making about the dynamic between Vega and myself. He sure as hell hadn't seen how she was starting to behave when the two of us were alone.

"Did you bring your swimsuit? She has a hot tub." Beck asked, earning another groan of irritation from me.

"Yes, oh great Beck, I brought my suit. I have been in Vega's hot tub before." I said snidely.

"Really? I haven't." He said, shocked.

"Her and Cat roped me into a sleepover a few weeks ago." I grumbled.

"Huh." Beck said, as if I said something profound that deserved further thought.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I barked.

"I didn't even say anything!" He exclaimed defensively.

"You don't have to say anything. All you have to do is make that stupid noise and shrug your shoulders. It was the most irritating thing you ever did when we were dating."

"God, I almost forgot how pleasant you are." He said as we pulled into Vega's driveway.

"Well, that would be a damn shame." I replied as I got out of the car and slammed the door, slinging my bag over my shoulder and walked up to the front door.

We were running late. It was at least nine when we arrived, so when Beck and I entered the house to see Andre slouching on the couch with one arm slung over Vega's shoulders, I wasn't really surprised to see that they had started drinking without us. Though something sparked inside me, something like anger, but I pushed it aside as Cat came bounding up to me, nearly spilling her drink everywhere during the process of giving me a hug. I could practically taste the vodka on her breath as she spoke.

"Jade! You guys finally made it." Cat giggled when she let me go, stumbling slightly.

"Christ, how much have you had already? I asked as I helped her steady herself.

Another giggle, "I haven't been counting. Come on! Let me make you a drink." She cheered as she grabbed me by the hand and dragged me into the kitchen.

I accepted the drink she fixed for me, noting how much vodka started out in the cup. I got the feeling I probably wouldn't remember a lot of what was going to happen tonight. I welcomed the thought as I took a deep drink from the cup and walked back into the living room.

"So what are we going to do, Vega?" I asked, leaning back in the chair I was seated in.

"Well, I figured we could probably go in the hot tub soon. Andre and Cat have been here for a while now. We were just waiting for you guys." She answered, her words slurring slightly.

"Where's Robbie?" Beck asked as he reappeared from the kitchen, a cup in his hand.

"He said he won't be here until later. Something about helping his grandma with her phone." Vega said, and I noticed the pout Cat made at the mention of Robbie's grandma. She was still not on good terms with that woman even after the two years its been since she reprimanded Cat for her hair color choice.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" I asked, taking another generous drink from my cup, feeling the burn of the vodka as it went down my throat.

Cat and I followed Vega up to her bedroom to change while the boys used the bathroom. When we were dressed and ready, we made our way back downstairs and saw the boys sitting at the kitchen table waiting for us.

"All set?" Beck asked as he ushered us all out the backdoor. I paused, downing the rest of my drink in one gulp, earning raised brows from everyone else. Before we reached the hot tub, Beck had scooped Cat up and jumped into Vega's in ground pool with her still in his arms. She shrieked and laughed when she resurfaced, splashing Beck with water as he swam around her.

"Well, I know I'm not gonna wanna go in there after the hot tub. Might as well." Andre said, rubbing his hands together before doing a cannon ball over where Beck and Cat swam.

"Yeah, fuck that." I said, maintaining my route to the hot tub, not realizing Vega had been following me until I climbed in and turned around.

She had her hair tied up in a bun on the top of her head, and I watched as she eased her slim body into the water. She let out a sigh as she rested her head on the headrest behind where she sat. The water glistened against her tan skin in the lighting.

"Not much of a swimmer?" I asked idly as I swirled water in between my fingers, looking up to see her eyes closed.

"Nah, I just feel like relaxing. Plus, the view's better over here." She finished her sentence, opening one eye slightly to appraise my reaction. I remained stoic as I looked at her blankly. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, most likely due to how much alcohol she probably consumed before I arrived. A small smirk was playing on her pink lips and I caught myself biting down on my own lower lip.

Did Vega just come on to me?

More importantly, am I blushing?

We sat in silence for a few minutes and I just watched her sit there with her eyes closed and her steady breathing. If I couldn't see the way her chest rose and fell, I would have questioned if she was even alive at all. The sound of breaking water caused me to avert my attention from whatever game Vega was trying to play to our other three friends climbing out of the pool and heading back towards the house.

"Where are you going?" I shouted over to them.

"Robbie just got here, and we're going to jump on him when he comes in! He's gonna get all wet. He'll be so mad." Cat said with a laugh.

"Yeah, a half naked girl, soaking wet, and jumping on him. Something tells me mad won't be very high on the list of emotions he'll be feeling." I grumbled, only loud enough for Vega to hear. She smiled.

"Don't get the furniture wet." Vega ordered casually, never moving a muscle.

When the door clicked shut, I decided to follow Vega's lead and do a little relaxing. I sunk deeper into the water and closed my eyes, letting out a deep breath.

The next thing I knew, a pair of legs were straddling me and two wet hands were sliding up my throat. I opened my eyes to see Vega hovering over me. This lasted only a moment or two before she leaned down and captured my lips in a kiss. Like magnets, my hands found her hips and clung to them desperately. Jesus Christ, could this girl not keep her hands to herself?

I barely got to enjoy the utter softness of her lips and the way they moved like liquid against mine before she pulled away from me. When I opened my eyes, I saw her pulling herself out of the hot tub and scampering back into the house. Not before turning her head back to me and casting me a flirtatious wink.

"Vega, what the fuck?" I asked loudly, looking at her, my eyes wide with confusion.

I followed her out of the pool and back into the house, picking a towel off of the rack a I passed it. Walking into the house, I saw a sopping wet Robbie who had a violent blush spreading across his cheeks. The rest of the group were wrapped in towels and sitting in a circle in the living room.

"I...need to change." Robbie stuttered before grabbing his bag off of the floor and making a hasty retreat to the bathroom.

"I bet he'll need to do something else too." I snickered as I sat on the ground in between Cat and Beck. They had moved the coffee table off to the side and Vega was currently chugging the remaining liquid out of a beer bottle, and I suddenly was aware of what they were planning on doing, "Oh come on, you guys. Spin the bottle? We're not in middle school anymore." I groaned.

"I don't know what middle school you went to, girl, but I sure wish I had been there." Andre said with a laugh as Vega took a seat next to him, putting the bottle in the middle of us.

"Me first!" Vega said with a giggle as she leaned forward and rolled the bottle. Some part of me was praying it would land on me, and another part of me was freaking the fuck out that I wanted something like that to happen again. When the bottle came to a halt, it had landed on Andre, and I had to do everything not to grab that bottle and move it so it landed on me. I thought I was going to be sick as I watched him lean in and kiss her. It just looked so wrong.

What the hell is going on with me?

"I'm next." I barked, as I leaned in and spun the bottle. It slowed to a halt as it landed right in front of Cat.

"Yay! It picked me!" She said with a giggle, "It'll be just like that old tmes, Jade, when we would-" She said, though I silenced her with my lips before she could let out any other kind of secrets of the things we used to do. She tasted like cherries and innocence as she kissed me back. Not to be upstaged by Andre, I tried showing Vega what I was capable of. I held Cat by the back of the neck and slid my tongue across her bottom lip, and deepening the kiss.

"Oh, man." I heard Andre say.

When I pulled away, Cat had a blush creeping across her cheeks as she giggled, "Jade's always been the best kisser."

I sat back, rubbing the pad of my thumb across my lip as I looked at Vega. She was blushing fiercely, with her lower lip pulled in between her teeth. She shifted uncomfortably under my gaze until Beck leaned forward, breaking our eye contact.

"Well, I'll go next." He said. When the bottle's movement ceased, it landed on me. I rolled my eyes.

"Jesus Christ." I said as I leaned in, giving him a not-so-chaste kiss, but still nothing compared to what I had just done with Cat. He tasted like whiskey and cigarettes, something I used to find solace in, but I was long past that.

"Are we playing a game where everyone gets to kiss Jade?" Robbie asked as he sat on the other side of Cat in fresh clothes.

"Not even in your dreams, Shapiro." I snapped, sitting back in my seat.

The bottle spun two more times, once for Beck and Cat, and then once for Robbie and Cat. Their kiss barely lasted a second, sending Cat spiraling in a fit of snickering.

"I'm bored." I announced as I stood and went to the kitchen to make myself another drink. My back was to the living room and the group as I rummaged through the Vega's alcohol cabinet. I made myself a drink that just might have been stronger than the one Cat had made me. I had already begun to feel the effects of it, but if I was starting to have urges where I wanted to kiss Vega, I needed at least another two drinks in order to cope with that.

I could be wrong though, I might just want to figure out why she keeps kissing me without any kind of explanation. I stood at the counter, stirring my drink for a while before Beck came up behind me, scaring the crap out of me.

"So, what was Cat talking about?" He asked with that crooked grin of his. I could see that he was already drunk from the way his eyes were slightly glazed over.

"We used to mess around before you and I started dating. And sometimes when we would break up for a night." I shrugged, "It isn't a big deal."

He looked at me with wide eyes. I knew if he wasn't drunk, he would have been pissed, instead he leaned closer and whispered, "You should've told me. We could have..." He trailed off, looking at me suggestively.

"Had a threesome? With Cat? Not a fucking chance. I wouldn't subject her to that." I said with a sense of protectiveness.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Beck asked, clearly offended.

I turned around and leaned against the counter, taking another drink, "She's way too innocent. I'm not going to tarnish that."

"Oh, so fucking her doesn't do that?" Beck asked in an accusatory fashion.

"Two totally different things. And I never _fucked_ Cat. We had sex, but it was never fucking. Christ, Beck." I said crossly. He looked at me like he couldn't possibly fathom the difference between the two. I said nothing, excusing myself from the conversation by rolling my eyes and walking back into the living room.

Andre was making Robbie take a shot for every hour he was late. Given the fact that we were nearing on midnight, he had five shots to take care of. The poor kid didn't realize that Andre was using a double glass, so in reality he was doing about ten. This would be interesting to watch unfold. Cat and Vega were sitting on the floor laughing and talking as they sipped their drinks.

We changed out of our wet swim suits and time passed as we all sat around and shared stories, laughed, and made fun of Robbie. Those shots hit him hard, and he was currently lying on the ground, speaking in a British accent and trying to rub my feet. At some point, Vega had flounced over to me, patting me on the head as she walked into the kitchen. I decided since she was alone, maybe I would try to figure out what was going on, so I followed her.

"Vega," I whispered once I got close to her as she fixed herself another drink, "what the hell are you doing?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked, batting those thick lashes at me innocently.

I took a step closer and pointed at her, "You know what I mean."

Her eyes got wide for a moment, as if a lightbulb just went off, "Oh! You mean this?" She asked as she tugged me closer by the front of my shirt, leaving a sensual kiss on my lips.

"Yeah. That." I said almost breathlessly.

She gave me a smirk and shrugged, "It's nothing." She said as she walked back into the living room, where no one had noticed our disappearance.

This girl was going to drive me crazy.

"I'm going to bed." I stated, walking through the living room and towards her stairs.

"Where are you sleeping?" She asked drunkenly, leaning into Beck for support. God, she was drunk.

"Your bed." I said before snapping my teeth at her in a mock-sexy way.

I had only been in her room, lying on her bed in the dark, for about twenty minutes before the door cracked open and she crept in.

"Jade?" I heard her whisper as she climbed into the bed.

"Expecting someone else?" I asked. I had been lying on my back with my hands tucked under my head, thinking about what this girl was playing at.

I heard her chuckle, "God no." She said, and I felt her cool fingertips slide underneath the fabric of my shirt.

"Vega," I said, and her movements ceased, "I don't like you." I said through clenched teeth.

She giggled, "I don't like you either." I felt her warm breath on my neck.

"You don't?" I asked surprised.

"Nope. Not more than a friend, I mean. And according to you, we're barely that." She said as she rubbed her lips lightly against my neck, "But I like your body," she gave a nip to my ear lobe, "and your lips," another to that spot on my neck right below my ear that made me shiver, "and the noises you make that you think I can't hear."

Vega then positioned herself on top of me, her hands on either side of my face and her thigh in between my legs. Before I could make any sort of protest, her lips were on mine and her tongue made its way into my mouth. We fought for dominance, and I snaked my hands into her hair, tugging her body closer to mine. Her hands were ghosting down my body, pausing as they gently palmed my breasts, and trying to suppress the moan that escaped from my throat was futile.

And just like that, she was lying on the bed next to me, letting out a small sigh before she spoke, "Goodnight Jade."

I let out a disgruntled groan as I rolled over so my back was facing her.

This was absurd. Why was she doing this to me? Why was I letting her?

**I know it isn't the greatest. It'll get better I promise! Starting out is always a little messy. Hang in there with me, guys. =) Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

After that night at Vega's, I made a decision about how I wanted things to happen from then on. I would let her kiss me. I would kiss back. I wouldn't ask anymore questions, and I wouldn't demand anymore answers. I mean, in all honesty it could be a pretty sweet deal. She wasn't a bad kisser. And if she was kissing me, then she wasn't talking. So it's like a bonus for both of us. And well, that's the way things went for a few months. If our friends left us alone, even for just a few minutes, we would find ourselves tangled together, tongues battling for dominance. It worked in our favor that Sikowitz was still trying to get us to play nice, so he was still constantly partnering us together. Our work didn't suffer despite the fact that we would spend most of the night rolling around on her bed.

Things never went much further than kissing. Until one night where we were at my house rehearsing for a scene that was due the next morning. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, Vega was straddling me with my wrists pinned up above my head. She kissed me feverishly as she pushed her hips down onto mine. A groan rumbled somewhere deep in my chest as I attempted to rock my hips back with hers. She pulled away, breathing heavy.

"What are we doing?" She asked, keeping her lips close to mine.

"You tell me. You're the one that started all of this." I said as I brought my head up, biting her lower lip and letting it go with a pop.

"Do you want to stop?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"God no." I groaned. My response set a fire inside her as she attached her lips to my throat and released my wrists. I took the opportunity of freedom to flip us over, positioning one of my legs between hers. I pulled her blouse up over her head and tossed it behind me, latching my lips onto her neck as I undid the clasp of her bra. She pulled me back up to her, kissing me as her hands made quick work of my top and bra as well, her lips never leaving mine. My hand splayed out onto her stomach, moving slowly down until my fingertips brushed the skin hidden by her jeans.

"Have you ever done this?" Vega asked, her voice thick with lust.

"To myself." I said, looking at her with a wicked grin as I unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them off of those long, thin legs. She let out a sigh as I removed her purple lace panties.

Leaning back down to kiss her, I let my hand slide gently down her stomach again before it reached its final destination. She let out a gasp when I first started, but soon her eyes rolled back and her mouth hung open, releasing breathy moans as her hips rocked with the rhythm I had created.

"Jade." She gasped when I stopped my movements. She looked at me incredulously, as if I was just going to leave her hanging like that. I gave her a devilish smile as I trailed kisses from her lips all the way down to where my hand was.

"I want to try something." I whispered, letting my breath bait her inner thigh. Her hand tangled in my hair as I finished with my mouth what I had started with my hand. She let out a series of groans with my name and a few curse words mixed in until suddenly a pleasured scream broke out of her lungs. I was incredibly thankful to have the house to myself for the night. This would be difficult to explain to my parents.

When her body finally relaxed, I moved myself back up to where she lay, her hair a mess and her eyes shut delicately. I laid next to her, kissing her shoulder gently.

Well, we had just crossed a line.

"Take your pants off." She said, keeping her eyes closed.

"What?" I asked with a soft laugh.

"You heard me." She growled, regaining her strength as she rolled over so she was on top of me, her lips attacking my neck as I grasped the back of her head.

"Christ, you recover quickly." I said breathlessly as she nipped and sucked on my neck and collar bone.

"You won't after I'm done with you." She said with a giggle.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Vega." I said as I felt her unbutton my jeans and pull them down.

"Oh trust me, I won't."

She didn't. Dear God, it was the most mind blowing sex I had ever had. No one had ever played me so well. She knew all the right places to touch, bite, kiss. When we were finished, I was left a crumpled mass of moans and heavy breathing. She sat up with her back facing me and I looked at the series of scratch marks that now adorned that perfect back.

"Yikes, Vega. Don't wear a tank top anytime soon." I warned as I slowly lifted myself up to get dressed.

"I figured. You're like a tiger." She said as she stretched out her back muscles.

"So is this going to be a thing now?" I asked as I pulled my shirt back over my head.

"Sex without strings? Why not?" She replied with a shrug. Okay, not exactly what I was asking, but at least I got the answer anyway.

So it wasn't anything. It was just sex. Great sex, at that. So I shouldn't complain.

Couldn't, I mean. I couldn't complain.

After that night, sex when we were bored turned into a habit of ours. Booty calls became a trend. But something else started happening during all of that as well. A friendship started forming. I guess when you spend a lot of time with someone, things like that happen. We started talking more. Texting when the other wasn't around.

It just made sense. Being friends with her just felt right. Like it was supposed to happen. We might not have had a lot in common, but there was something inexplicable there. Something that kept me coming back when she'd call, even if it was just to help her with her chemistry homework.

But no matter what happened, there was reassurance on both ends that this was just sex, and there were no strings.

Until one day the sex just stopped. She had always been the initiator. That was one of our unspoken rules of what we were doing. Soon she stopped calling me when she was bored. When we got paired for projects, actual work was done and then I went home. I had to act like it didn't bother me.

This was all about a month before we graduated high school.

As I thought about it, I shouldn't care that she just stopped whatever it was that we were doing. I didn't want it in the beginning. So now that it's over, I should be thankful.

But I wasn't. I was pissed.

The week before graduation, I was walking through the halls after school. I had gotten detention because I glued Sinjin's hand to his face. Whatever.

"Jade." I heard a familiar voice call my name. It froze me in my place. She was the last person I felt like seeing today. In all honesty, she was the only one I wanted to see. You know what? Forget I said anything about that.

"What do you want, Vega?" I asked, finally turning to watch her approach me.

"Beck told me you're moving to Boston in a few weeks." She said as she got closer.

"Considering that's where Berklee is, that sounds about right." I said sarcastically.

She continued closing the distance between us, until she had me with my back against the wall, "I'm gonna miss you" She said in a whisper.

I swallowed thickly, "I bet you will."

And then she kissed me with such strong force, I was thankful to be pressed against the wall. Our teeth tugged at each other's lips as my hands knotted into her hair.

"I think I would have gone crazy if I didn't do that one more time before we left." She said in a breathy voice when she pulled away.

"You're the one who stopped." I said in a whisper, moving my hands down to her hips to keep her close.

She gave me a sad looking smile, "How come you never told me about Cat?" She asked.

I felt my back stiffen, "Talking was never really part of our agreement."

"Even after all this time, you still don't trust me." She said, shaking her head.

"What does Cat even have to do with anything?" I snapped.

"She has everything to do with this." Vega said, trying again to get out of my grasp.

"Why?" I urged her to keep talking.

"Because you two have been sleeping together, too." Vega said in a loud whisper.

"That stopped over a year ago. Why is this even relevant, Vega?" Realization hit me as I took a half step closer to her, "Is that why you stopped calling me?"

Vega dropped her head, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at the floor and bit her lip, "I can't believe you'd do that to Cat."

"Do what? There isn't anything to be done. On either sides. I stopped sleeping with Cat for good when Beck and I got back together at the beginning of this year. Beck and I broke up. Then you started kissing me, and we started whatever the hell this is." I said, motioning between the two of us as I walked her through the timeline of my complicated love life, if you could even call it that.

She looked at me thoughtfully, as if she was trying to construct the timeline in her head, "That's not what I heard."

I scoffed, leaning back and crossing my arms, "Well what did you hear, Sweet Sally Peaches?" I said in the voice I use to mock her.

"I heard you and Cat have been sleeping together this entire time." She said, looking sour.

Wait, sour? Like she would be pissed to find out I had been sleeping with someone else other than her?

"From who?" I asked incredulously. She mumbled the name, and I leaned forward dramatically, "I'm sorry, who?"

"Beck." She said loudly.

I looked at her, my eyes wide with shock and my mouth open slightly, "Beck? Beck told you that? Beck doesn't know _shit_." I said through clenched teeth.

"Well, maybe you should just tell me what used to happen with you and Cat so I can hear it from the source."

"Fine." I snapped, "But answer me this first: is that the reason you stopped calling me?" I said slowly, carefully enunciating each word.

"Yes." She breathed.

I groaned in anger as I grabbed Vega by the wrist and dragged her out of the school. I drove to my house quickly, kicking the door open and shut as we went to my bedroom.

"Okay. You wanna know what happened with Cat and I? Fine. I'll tell you. Sit down." I ordered as I pointed to the foot of my bed before I began to pace in front of it.

The story goes like this:

I've known Cat for a long time. Since we were nine, I believe. I've always felt this sense of protectiveness over her, even when we first met back then. She always exuded this ridiculous amount of innocence that, for whatever reason, I badly wanted to preserve.

Until we were fifteen. I had taken her to a party of some senior guy that lived down the street from me. We got a little belligerent, and I lost track of her. When I found her, it was in the guest bedroom and some jackass had his grimy paws all over her, despite how loud she was telling him to leave her alone. I knocked him out, cussed out the boy whose house it was, and practically carried her back to my house. She was fine, just a lot more giggly than she usually was and incredibly uncoordinated.

When we reached the solace of my bedroom, she bounced on my bed and laughed about how much fun she had. Completely unaffected by what could have just happened to her. I had my back to her and was changing into clothes to sleep in. I was standing only in my underwear, as I shuffled through my dresser trying to find what I wanted to wear when Cat had jumped off the bed and started kissing my neck.

"I love you, Jade." She whispered. The sincerity of her voice caused me to turn around and look at her instead of just ignoring it as one of the weird things Cat did. She was looking up at me with those big brown eyes, a smile playing on those cotton candy lips.

"I love you too, Kit Cat." I replied, returning her genuine smile before leaning down to kiss her.

And that was how Cat and I started sleeping together. I know, it probably sounds terrible that after a scene like that, we were just being casual with each other. But that was just the relationship that Cat and I had. I do love her, probably more than I love anyone. I know full well it makes no sense, but that's just the way we've always been.

We stopped once I started dating Beck. Cat never seemed upset, her love for me never faltered. It didn't even put a speed bump in our friendship. Until Beck and I started fighting more and more and I would find myself in her bed and one in the morning after him and I had broken up again. My story for Vega stopped here. I didn't tell her about the last night Cat and I slept together. It went something like this:

"I hate seeing you like this." She whispered through the post-sex haze.

"I hate being like this." I replied.

"Then leave him." She pleaded.

"I can't. I love him." I had answered, tears clogging my throat and threatening to spill out.

"As much as you love me?" She asked in a small voice.

I remember laughing, "I won't love anyone as much as I love you, Cat."

She snuggled into my side, her breath tickling the crook of my neck, "I just want you to be happy, Jade. Beck isn't doing that for you anymore."

Two days later, Beck and I broke up for good. Once that happened, something shifted in the dynamic of my relationship with Cat. We never slept together again. We never kissed. It bothered me, and I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me. Was Cat not interested in me anymore because I was attainable, or because I was broken?

"Is something wrong, Cat?" I had asked her one night when we were hanging out at her house.

"Why would something be wrong?" She answered in her airy voice.

"You've just seemed kind of different lately." I asked, uncomfortable with my own vulnerability as I played with the hem of my sweater.

"I'm fine, Jade!" She giggled.

"You don't...you don't kiss me anymore." I whispered, hating myself for having this conversation.

She leaned close and pecked me on the cheek, "Because I know someone else who wants to. Someone that you want to kiss, too." She said in a whisper.

"Who?" I asked with wide eyes. As far as I knew, I didn't want to kiss anyone else.

She fell backwards onto her bed and laughed, "You'll find out soon enough."

That was about two weeks before that first time Vega kissed me.

Holy shit. Had Cat meant Vega?

I finished telling the story and paused to glance at Vega to see how she was taking all of this new information, "So yeah. That's about it." I said with a shrug, trying to regain my cavalier attitude.

Vega sat chewing on her lip as she thought for a moment before speaking, "Last week Beck told me this story about how Cat was in love with you, and you were stringing her along and trying to use him to make her jealous." Vega rambled off.

"You don't believe him, do you?" I asked, turning my body to her and crossing my arms.

"Not anymore." She said, standing up and walking up to me.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked in a whisper as she closed the distance between us.

"We're all leaving soon. What is there to do, really?" She asked with a shrug and I pretended hearing that didn't break my heart a little bit. I did something else instead.

"This." I breathed as I leaned forward, capturing her lips in a kiss.

I don't know why I was letting this happen again. It was turning into exactly the same scenario as Cat. Sure, it seemed casual from afar, but there was something ticking inside of me that was telling me I was wrong to keep doing this. That I would get hurt again. It's safe to say that at some point, I had started developing feelings for Vega. Feelings I never wanted to admit to having, but here they are anyway. And then there was Beck to be dealt with. How dare he tell Vega such a blatant lie? I'd have to straighten him out later, because right now I might be doing something for the last time and if that were the case, I was going to give it my all.

Which is exactly what I did. When we were finished, we laid in my unkempt bed, a comfortable silence covering us like the quilt we wore to keep the chill at bay.

"Did you love her?" Vega asked, her voice soft.

"Who?" I asked naively. I casted a sideways glance in her direction to see her giving me an irritated look.

"Cat."

I shifted uncomfortably under her curious gaze, "Yeah." I answered quietly.

"More than Beck?"

I let out a snort, "Christ, Vega. We're not even friends. Why are you trying to get all personal?"

Clearly, I had offended her. She let out an irritated sigh as she tried climbing out of the bed.

"Hey, stop." I said softly as I leaned forward, quickly wrapping my arms around her bare waist and pulling her back down to me, "I'm kidding. You should know that by now."

"We're friends?" She asked, unable to hide the hope shining in her eyes.

"God, are you going to cry?" I said sarcastically.

"You are one of the most charming people I know." She said dryly as she rolled over so her back was facing me.

"And yet, here you are. Naked in my bed with the marks of my teeth on your shoulders, the ghost of my lips in your most private of places." I whispered seductively into her ear. I felt her body shiver against mine, her skin breaking out in goosebumps. "You hate that I have this effect on you, don't you?" I whispered with my lips pressed against the shell of her ear.

"Not as much as you hate it." She said with a snicker. I couldn't really argue with that. I couldn't really say anything. When my silence stretched longer than a minute, she rolled over so she was facing me now, "I should leave." She whispered.

"If you want." I said softly.

"You want me to stay?" She asked, surprised.

"I want...I want you, Tori." I whispered, my voice hardly audible.

"Jade..." Vega said, trailing off as she looked at me.

I rolled away from her and sat up, my back facing her as I rested my elbows on my knees and put my head in my hands. I can't believe I just told her that. I cannot believe it. I contemplated kicking her out of my house, yelling at her and saying hurtful things so she'd forget what I had just confessed to. I almost did it too, until I felt her skin press against my back and her hands slide down my thighs.

"You're going to Boston. I'm going to Daytona. We need...we need to figure out who we are. I'm not saying no. I'm saying not yet." She whispered, pressing her lips into my shoulder every so often.

"Okay." I said, struggling with keeping the tears down.

"I'm gonna go. I'll call you tomorrow." She said, and my body shivered, missing the heat she emitted once she left. I listened to her dress herself as I continued to stare at the wall in front of me. I felt the bed shift again and heard her say, "Hey," before she slid her hand underneath my chin, tugging my head to face her. She kissed me the way I used to kiss Cat before we'd part ways, and that little break in my heart from earlier got a little bigger.

"Bye." I said, my voice cracking.

"Bye, Jade." She said, walking out of my room. Once she left, I fell backwards onto my bed, daring the tears to fall. All the sadness I felt disappeared when I remembered what brought us to my house in the first place: Beck and his bull shit. I sat up, quickly dressing myself as I grabbed my purse and headed out of my room and out of my house.

When I pulled up to Beck's house, I parked in front of the RV and jumped out of my car.

"Beck! Beck Oliver, I have a bone to pick with you." I yelled as I stormed up to the RV, pounding on the door.

He opened it, leaning in the frame and giving me that crooked grin I used to melt for, "Jade."

"Beck." I snapped, walking into the RV, ignoring any kind of invitation or protest he could give.

"What can I do ya for?" He asked casually, closing the door.

"What the fuck would make you tell Vega that I'm stringing Cat along? Because of what happened at the party? Did you not hear what I told you when you asked me about it? Cat and I were over." I shook my head, "We weren't a thing to begin with, and whatever we were ended a long fucking time ago. What I can't wrap my head around is why you would go and run your fucking mouth to Vega about something you have no clue about." I ranted, pacing the length of his RV.

He said there, his lips drawn in a line as he crossed his arms and leaned against the fridge, "Tori asked me about your history with Cat. I only told her what I knew."

"What you told her was a bunch of bull shit!" I yelled.

"Why did she even care, Jade? She was pretty insistent on finding out. Are you sleeping with her, too?" Beck asked incredulously.

"That is none of your business." I said sharply.

"You are." Beck said, dropping his arms and looking at me with disbelief in his eyes, "You like her, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter." I said, clearing my throat and looking away from those eyes that I never could lie to.

"Oh my God," was all Beck said.

"Just shut it, okay? It doesn't matter."

Beck suddenly became very serious, "Jade, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told Tori anything. It wasn't my place. I was just so mad that I was finding out about the two of you, and not because of what I said at the party. I never got to apologize for that, either. I just...you think you know someone, especially after dating them for three years, just to find out you really didn't know them at all. I was bitter." He said apologetically.

"It's fine. It's whatever. Just forget it." I said dismissively as I made my way to the door. I paused after opening, "Don't tell anyone what we talked about, okay? It never happened." Beck made a zipping motion across his lips and I nodded my thanks before leaving.

A week later was graduation. We all walked across that stage, accepted our diplomas, and opened a new door to our lives. And slowly began the trickling of our departures.

Beck wasn't going anywhere, just taking auditions when he could get them.

Robbie left for SanFran State two weeks after graduation.

Cat moved to New York after getting a role in a Broadway play a few days after Robbie left.

Andre was next, leaving for Nashville to begin an internship with some record label.

Vega followed a few days later. She came over the day before she left. We had sex one last time, and it took everything in me not to cry when she kissed me goodbye. She left with a promise to stay in touch and a small hickey on the curve of my hip. I had written her a letter, but was far too scared to give it to her. So it stays with me, currently tucked in my suitcase as I fly out to Boston.


	3. Chapter 3

College isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'll be honest with you, I fucking hate it here. And I can't tell if it's because of the place, or if I'm just miserable in general. I spend my time studying and trying not to think of Vega. I've been doing a shit job at it. Well, the not thinking about Vega part. For the most of it, I've got my classes in the bag. But that girl has me all fucked up inside.

I really don't know how I let it happen. I mean, I was one hundred percent for this casual sex thing. It was fool-proof. At least, it seemed that way. Never would I have imagined that I would fall for her. It seemed improbable. Robbie had a better chance than Vega. Good God, I can't believe I just said that.

Thinking about it, I suppose that's exactly how Cat and I started, too. Casual sex with no chance of anything more. Until I started seeing Cat for what she really was underneath all the sparkles and laughter. Somewhere down the road, I fell hard all while she just went on with her life. I realized it early enough and when Beck expressed any kind of interest in me, I jumped at the opportunity to distract myself from the potential damage Cat could cause. I thought I had saved myself when in reality all I did was create my own sick form of torture.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about Cat when I would kiss Beck. Holding his hand felt foreign, as if her much more slender hand belonged in mine more than his. In retrospect, I might have started more fights than were really necessary so I'd have an excuse to run to Cat for comfort.

And then Vega came along. I never did find out if she really was who Cat was talking about that night. I guess it doesn't matter much now, considering I hardly hear from her anymore. She kept her promise for the first few weeks, but slowly she stopped initiating conversations. Then after that she stopped replying when I would try to instigate our playful bickering, the only way I really knew how to start any kind of exchange between the two of us.

At first, I was furious. I couldn't understand how she could be the one to start all of this and then just cut me off like it was absolutely nothing. Like I meant nothing to her. Once the anger subsided, sadness ensued. That was when I realized that I really did mean nothing to her. The sadness bled into a numbness, and I just felt nothing.

About a month into the semester, I gave Cat a call to see if she'd have any free time coming up. Luckily, production hadn't started and she had the weekend to relax and offered me her couch if I wanted it. I found myself on the next train to New York.

Honestly, I'm over whatever I felt for Cat. She's my best friend, and that comes before anything else possibly could. But walking up to her apartment building, I was hit with a wave of sadness. Cat still sounded so happy when I talked to her. Happy without our friends from back home. Happy without me.

I buzzed her apartment number and couldn't fight the smile when I heard her airy voice call through the speaker, "Hello?"

"Kit Cat, open up, it's me." I replied.

I thought she was going to break the speaker with how loud she yelled my name before hitting the buzzer to open the door. Maybe things would be okay. I took the elevator up to her floor and knocked twice on her door. I barely had a moment to breathe before the door flew open and she tackled me into the wall behind me.

"Cat, Jesus Christ, lemme go." I choked out as she squeezed me tighter.

"I've missed you so much, Jade!" She squealed as she loosened her grip, finally allowing me the opportunity to hug her back.

"I've missed you too, Kit." I said.

We sat on her couch as she told me rapidly about all of the things going on in her life now. I listened intently to the drama and the friends she's made. Jealousy sparked inside me, until she flung herself on me again in the middle of a conversation.

"I've just missed you, Jade. I'm going crazy without you!" She exclaimed.

I smiled, "The feeling's mutual, I promise."

"Have you talked to Tori lately?" She asked when she let me go, leaning back into the couch.

"Nope. Why would you ask?" I did my best to remain cavalier while answering her question, despite the fact that my stomach knotted at the mere mention of her name.

Cat shrugged, "I haven't really heard much from her either. She used to call me a couple times a week."

I nodded. Of course her and Cat would stay close. They were friends. And not the kind of friends I was with either of them. The normal kind of friends. That talk on the phone and go out to lunch. Not the kind that fuck behind closed doors.

"Are you okay? You seem sad." Cat asked as she poked me in the leg.

"I'm fine. Just...I miss the way things used to be." I said quietly. Cat looked at me and nodded her understanding.

"Do you wanna talk about what happened with you and Tori?" She leaned forward and whispered, as if we ran the risk of someone listening to us.

I looked at her, dumbfounded, "How did you...?"

"I told you someone else wanted to be the one kissing you." She giggled before becoming serious, "And Andre told me."

"Andre knew?" I asked incredulously.

Cat nodded, "He called me yesterday. He said Tori got real drunk a few weeks ago and called him, confessing everything."

I leaned closer to her, my heart beat picking up, "What did she say?"

"He said she told him she had been sleeping with a girl while we were in high school and that he wouldn't believe who it was when she told him. He didn't, until she got pretty specific about what you can do with your hands, and that tattoo you have down there." Cat finished in a hushed voice, and we both blushed knowing exactly what Andre was talking about in both instances.

"So that was everything?" I asked, unable to hide my disappointment.

"He said she kept apologizing, but she wouldn't say what for. He called her the next morning but she didn't remember any of it. So do you wanna tell me your version?" Cat asked, tilting her head.

"You got any wine?" I asked. Cat smiled knowingly and went into the kitchen, coming back with a bottle of red wine and two glasses.

"I picked up a couple bottles of your favorite after I got off the phone with you earlier." Cat said as she poured two generous glasses. I accepted the cup graciously, taking a drink before diving in.

I told her everything. The abrupt kisses. The sex. The fight with Beck. The broken promises.

By the time I was finished, more than half of the first bottle was gone and I was starting to feel the heat in my cheeks. I drained the rest of my glass before setting it on the table. Cat was instantly pouring me another, with a sad look of understanding on her face.

"I don't understand. She seemed like she really liked you." She said quietly, handing me my newly replenished glass.

I shook my head, "I haven't understood it since all of this started. All she ever talked about was how we were leaving and there wasn't anything we could do. Then why start it? You know? Why the fuck would you do something like this to someone?" I asked, desperate for an answer I knew Cat couldn't give me. She retired her own glass and began to drink straight from the bottle.

"You think you know someone." She said absentmindedly.

"Cheers to that." I said, clinking my glass with the bottle.

The topic digressed from Vega to a multitude of other things. Cat said she was going to try to make sure she could be home for Thanksgiving, at the very least for Christmas. By the time we finished the second bottle, she also promised to come visit me out in Boston, which was when I decided to drop the bomb I had been hiding on her.

"I'm gonna move back to Hollywood after this semester." I blurted out.

She looked at me with wide eyes, "Why?"

I shrugged, "I just don't feel right there. Something just isn't fitting."

"It's not because of..."

"No." I cut her off, "This has nothing to do with her. I'm just not sure what I want, so why waste my time here?"

Cat nodded, though I could tell she didn't understand where I was coming from.

"You'll visit me still, right?" She asked quietly.

I looked at her and smiled, "Of course, baby girl."

We shared a mutual smile before I noticed the way her eyes passed down to my lips. My heart fluttered slightly in my chest as I wondered what I should do. I pushed the logical side of me out of my consciousness as I leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss. At some point, we relocated from the couch in her living room to her queen-size bed in her bedroom. Hands did their best to innocently relearn the other's body, until I became frustrated with chastity.

"Stop me?" I asked as I hovered over her, our faces so close together I could feel her breath on my face.

A smile broke across her face as she shook her head ever so slightly, "No."

I kissed her again as I pressed my body firmly into hers, reveling in the familiar sounds she made. It might have been a while, but I still knew her body almost as well as I knew my own. I knew the sensitive spot behind her ear that drove her mad, or the way that simply brushing my lips across the skin right above her panty line would cause her entire body to quake. She knew mine just the same. The way that scraping her nails down my back caused a monster inside of me to awaken, and how her heavy breathing in my ear was all the ammunition I needed to drive her over the edge.

I awoke the next morning lying on my stomach, my hair splayed around my face, her comforter covering only up to my back dimples. Aside from me and my pounding headache, the bed was empty. I lifted myself up slightly only to drop back down into the feather pillows with a loud, dramatic groan.

"Someone's awake." I heard her say, causing me to turn my head to see her walking back into her room, dressed in her bra and panties and wearing my flannel, not bothering to fasten any of the buttons. She was carrying a cup of coffee, which she set down gently onto the nightstand near where I lay. She perched herself on the bed with a soft smile on her face as she began gently tracing the indents of my back dimples.

"We probably shouldn't have done that." She said lightly.

"We probably never should have started doing that." I replied in a gravely voice.

I heard her laugh before she leaned down, pressing her lips to my cheek and whispering, "You're still the best kisser."

I returned her laugh as I lifted myself up onto my elbows, looking at her over my shoulder, "You're still loud as hell." I replied. She blushed slightly before standing up and removing the flannel from her shoulders.

"Here." She said, handing me the fabric. For a moment I ignored her and appraised her toned body. My eyes paused at the giant bite mark adorning her stomach.

I let out a whistle, "Sorry about that."

Cat looked down at the mark, gently tracing it with her fingertips, "It's okay. I remember how you get. Especially when you've been drinking." She said with a smile.

I accepted my shirt and put it on as I sat up, realizing I had some thought to put my underwear back on but not my bra. I ran a hand through my hair as I looked around the room, "Have you seen my bra?"

"Living room. Your shirt was out there too." Cat said simply. I nodded, taking the knowledge of the whereabouts as enough for that moment. I picked up the coffee cup and took a generous drink.

"You're the only one who really knows how to make my coffee the way I like it." I said with a smile.

"I know." She said giggling, "Come on, I made breakfast." She motioned for me to follow her, which I did.

On her kitchen table was a plethora of waffles and fruits. I took a seat at one end of the table while she sat at the other. We ate in a comfortable silence for a while before Cat decided to speak.

"So what are you going to do about Tori?" She asked through a mouthful of waffles.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to chew with your mouth open?" I replied sarcastically. In return, she opened her mouth wider and began chewing obnoxiously, causing me to laugh and nearly choke on my strawberry. After I managed to swallow without dying, I let out a sigh, "I don't really know. I guess wait and see how Thanksgiving goes? I mean, what else am I going to do?"

Cat nodded her understanding as she stood and began cleaning up the breakfast mess. I stood and helped her. We did the dishes in silence; her washing them and me drying them. Once everything was put away and the kitchen looked good as new again, we moved to the couch and fell into it.

"What the...?" I started, pulling something that was digging into my back. It was my bra. Both of our faces flushed as I held up the garment.

"So what do you wanna do tonight?" Cat asked as the thumbed around on the screen on her phone.

"Haven't thought about it. But something tells me we should probably avoid alcohol." I said, casting her a sideways glance with a smile.

"Andre's in town." Cat said.

"Let's do something with him, then." I suggested.

She looked at me surprised, "Are you sure?"

I shrugged, "Why not? Maybe he's found out something about Vega that can help us figure out this mess I call my head." I finished, shaking my head and standing with my bra in hand, "I'm going to shower. I smell like sex." I said, making my way towards the bathroom.

"Hey Jade," Cat called out to me as I was walking away.

"Yeah?" I looked at her over my shoulder.

"I love you." She said with a smile.

"I love you too, Cat." I returned her smile and continued my way to the shower.

When I was finished showering and cleaning myself up, I walked back out into the main living room to see Andre sitting on the couch talking with Cat.

"Er. Hey." I said uncomfortably, realizing the fact that I was in only a towel.

Andre gave me a smile regardless, "Jade, how're you doing?"

"I'm good. Um, let me just..." I said, pointing to Cat's bedroom where I had put my overnight bag. I got dressed and walked back out into the room to give Andre a proper greeting. He stood to hug me and squeezed me tightly.

"How've you been?" I asked as I took a seat next to Cat on the couch.

"I'm good. Look, I wanted to talk to you about Tori." Andre said, leaning forward from his perch on the armchair. I passed a tentative glance to Cat, showing my irritation that we couldn't go five minutes without that girl being brought into the conversation. Cat put her hands up in mock surrender and scooted back into the couch.

"What do you want to talk about? I'm probably the last person you should be asking when the topic is Tori Vega." I said bitterly, avoiding making any eye contact with him.

"See, we both know that isn't true, Jade. I know you care about her just as much as Cat and I do, maybe even more." Andre said calmly, rubbing his hands together as he took a moment to gather this thoughts.

"Even if that's true, which it isn't, I haven't talked to her in almost a month." I said harshly.

"She told me to tell you she was sorry. About what happened between the two of you. She said that she wanted to apologize to you herself, but she didn't think you'd want to hear anything she had to say." Andre said, ignoring my resentment.

"Well, it looks like she's not a complete moron." I said, rolling my eyes. I got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, returning with another bottle of wine and a glass in my hands.

"I thought you said you didn't want to drink tonight." Cat said, her lips pouting slightly.

"If we're going to be talking about her, I'll need this." I griped, taking my seat on the couch and pouring myself a glass.

"Things were that bad, huh?" Andre asked, appraising me as I drank deeply from the glass.

"Whatever you think bad is, multiply that by seven and you've got how I'm feeling about your sweet Sally Peaches." I said in a contemptuous way.

Andre looked at me and let out a sigh, "Well, she's coming home for Thanksgiving. Maybe she'll talk to you then."

"Yay." I said sarcastically. The rest of the night contained two more bottles of wine shared between Cat and myself, and handful of beers for Andre. They sat and let me criticize everything about Vega in the most cruel of ways. I surprised myself with how much I was willing to share with Andre. I suppose the amount of alcohol currently flowing in my blood had something to do with it. But Andre always carried this sense of understanding, regardless of how close we were, I always had a feeling that if I needed someone to talk to and Cat couldn't suffice, that Andre would be my next choice.

I just couldn't believe I was sitting here, shit talking his best friend and he was taking all of it in stride. Nodding his head and offering me advice when he thought he could help. The night ended with Andre curled up on the couch with a quilt covering him, his snores ringing through the quiet apartment.

Cat and I retired to her bedroom, changing into our night clothes and crawling into bed. She cuddled into my side and I wondered if we would make the same mistake we made last night. Her hand slid up the side of my neck, gently tugging my face to hers and she kissed me passionately, and I returned it with equal fervor.

"Why do we keep doing this?" I asked her when I finally had the ambition to pull away from her.

"It just feels right." Cat answered quietly.

"But you don't want to be with me." I stated.

Cat bit down on her lip, "You wouldn't want to be with me."

"You never gave me the chance to decide for myself." I replied.

"It doesn't matter. You love Tori now." Cat said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Cat."

"No, Jade. You need to do what you can to be with her." Cat said, a sense of finality in her voice as she rolled over so her back was facing me.

Tentatively, I slid my arm around her waist and snuggled into her, "I'll always love you the most, Kit."

Remember how I said I was over Cat? Maybe that wasn't entirely true. And now I'm stuck in between two people who both claim that the other is what I need.

Thanksgiving can't come soon enough.

**What is going on with the world?! Tell me what you guys are thinking. Until next time ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow. Some of you guys were not happy with me in regards to the last chapter. Fret not, ye of little faith, this story is in the Jade/Tori tag for a reason! I feel the need to explain the purpose of the last chapter slightly: the situation with Jade and Cat was meant to further how fractured Jade is, and just how deeply she's being effected by what Tori is doing to her. I hope this sates your Jori hearts. I truly appreciated the feedback I got, you guys. Until next time!**

When it was finally time to head back to Hollywood, I couldn't have been more excited. In reality, the only reason I was going home was because of my friends. I didn't have high hopes about having a Thanksgiving with my family, and would probably wind up staying at Cat's for a Valentine Thanksgiving Dinner.

Maybe I should talk about what happened after that weekend at her apartment. We had a very long conversation where both of us agreed that we needed to keep what we used to do in the past from that moment on. Our friendship had to come first, and we had long ago missed our chance at anything more. At the time, I was angry that back then Cat had decided our fate for us, but it makes sense. I think the risk of losing our friendship outweighed any kind of benefits a relationship might bring.

Apparently there was a reason we had stopped sleeping together, and it had nothing to do with my relationship with Beck. Cat said she saw how my attitude towards Vega slowly changed, even though I wasn't ready to admit it myself at the time. Cat explained to me that she knew I just needed a push in the right direction, which was why she had talked to Vega about her suspicions of my feelings.

It didn't explain the way Vega used that to her advantage to string me along for months before using the bull shit excuse of leaving for college as a reason for us not to be together. That was something Cat and I both agreed on.

I thought it would be hard to just go back to the way things were before I had gotten to her apartment that day, but it really wasn't. I was vulnerable when I went there, desperate to understand why Vega had dropped me like I was nothing, and hoping I could find what I was missing in Cat. It was nothing more than that. I mean, sure a part of me will always love Cat, but sometimes you just gotta move on.

We had decided to fly home together, and when we arrived at the airport back home, Beck had been waiting for us to take us to our respective homes. He dropped Cat off first, and she bounced out of the car with the promise to call later so we could all catch up as a group.

"So, I heard you're moving back home after this semester." Beck said to me as we pulled out of Cat's driveway.

I looked at him, "Cat told you?"

He nodded his head, "She doesn't like it, but I think that has more to do with her wanting to have someone from home close by." I nodded my understanding.

"You get why I'm doing this, don't you?" I asked.

Beck shrugged, "I mean, I guess. If you're not happy, then you're not happy. You can't waste your time hoping it'll come around. You've gotta make your own happiness. That's all you're trying to do." He looked at me and gave me that tilted smile of his, and I returned it genuinely, appreciating that someone understood why I was doing it. "So what are you going to do instead?"

Now it was my turn to shrug, "I don't really know. All I know for sure is that I want to write. So maybe I'll just take time to write some scripts and get them out there for someone to see."

Beck reached over and set his hand on my leg, giving it a supportive pat, "You'll figure it out, Jade. You always do."

We drove in silence until he pulled into my neighborhood and he let out a labored sigh, "So, about Tori."

My pulse skyrocketed at the mere mention of her name, "What about her?"

"She's home. She got home yesterday. She came to see me."

I rolled my eyes, "Of course she did."

"She wanted advice on how to apologize to you. I guess she figured I've got the most experience with that." He said with a chuckle.

"Why does she have to go around asking everyone how to talk to me? This would probably be over if she would just man up and talk to me herself." I griped as he pulled into my driveway. I noticed an unfamiliar car, and my eyes narrowed as I studied it. It wasn't either of my parents', and I knew we weren't having family over for the holiday. We never do.

"Looks like she's taking your advice." Beck said as he put his truck in park.

"That's..." I trailed off.

"She uh...she called me while I was waiting for you two at the airport." He said sheepishly.

I looked at him with malice in my eyes as I unbuckled myself and got out of the car, "I should kill you." I said as I reached in to grab my duffel bag.

"But you won't." He said with a knowing smile.

"Piss off." I grumbled.

"Hey," He said, leaning forward before I could close the door, "good luck. If you need me, you know where to find me." He said with genuine concern. I nodded and closed the door before storming up to my house.

Vega got out of her car slowly, "Jade."

"If you wanna talk, get inside." I barked as I walked by her. She followed me like a puppy as I opened the door and walked up the stairs to my room.

"Jade." She repeated once I closed my bedroom door and turned to look at her.

"What are you doing here?" I said as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"I wanted to apologize." She answered, her voice quiet.

"I'm listening."

She wasted no time, diving in headfirst, "Jade, I'm so sorry. I've been absolutely terrible to you. It's just, college is so different from high school and I got carried away. I've been an awful friend. I really hope you can forgive me." She said as she took a step closer to me. I said nothing, looking at her with harsh eyes as I bit down on my lower lip. She was going to have to do a lot more than that if she wanted me to forgive her. Vega tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear as she searched my eyes for some sort of response, "What's wrong?" She asked, her voice hardly audible.

I felt my resolve slipping as I looked into those warm chocolate eyes, "I...I didn't know how seeing you again would be."

She smiled softly, "And how is it?"

"Confusing. Frustrating." I said quietly, shaking my head slightly.

"Jade." She said faintly, the hand that had been brushing my hair away was now cupping my cheek and I found myself instinctively leaning into the touch. I closed my eyes as she leaned in and kissed me. The kiss lasted longer than I should have let it, and the fact that I had snaked my hands around her waist and was holding onto her like my life depended on it probably wasn't helping.

I shouldn't be doing this. I'm mad as hell at her right now, and all she has to do is look at me with those eyes and pout those perfect lips. This isn't right.

"Vega," I attempted to protest the way she was moving her lips against mine and pushing me back towards my bed. The back of my legs hit the edge and we fell onto my bed, and somehow during the fall my knee had made contact with that sensitive spot, causing her to moan loudly. In turn, whatever was left of my resolve dissipated as I feverishly kissed her, my hands roaming her body.

What seemed like hours later, we were laying in my bed in a comfortable silence as Vega gently brushed her fingers down my inner arm.

"I've missed you." She said in a soft voice.

"You didn't act like it." I replied, slightly coldly.

"I don't know how to act when it comes to you."

I shook my head, "You'd been doing just fine all throughout high school. I wanna know what changed when we left."

"I got caught up in trying to make new friends. I guess I forgot that I needed to keep the old ones too." She said, sounding ashamed.

Looking over to her, I bit down on my lip before speaking, "Do you tell them about me? Your new friends."

She let out a sigh, "I tell him about my amazing friend back home, and how much I miss spending time with her."

Friend. I should have figured. Things were still casual between us, and I was the idiot that thought things would be different. That the distance and time apart would make her miss me so much that she'd want to make me hers so she wouldn't have to worry about losing me while we were gone. I scoffed, showing her my irritation with what she had said.

"Jade, I just met these people. I'm not going to sit them down and unravel a completely messed up story about how I had been sleeping with a friend from back home and that we hated each other in public, but couldn't keep our hands to ourselves when we were alone." Vega argued.

"You know, it didn't have to be that kind of story." I said with my jaw clenched, getting frustrated to yet again be the one confessing that I wanted something more.

"I know. I just...I don't know." Vega grumbled as she fell onto her back and let out a disgruntled sigh, "Life is complicated."

"You don't have to tell me twice." I replied.

"I heard you're moving back home after this semester." Vega said, changing the subject.

"God, Cat cannot keep her mouth shut." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Is it true?"

"Yeah. I'm coming back." I said simply.

"Why?" Vega asked, rolling onto her side to look at me again.

"Boston doesn't have what I'm looking for. I don't want to waste my time." I said vaguely. I watched her nod her head through my periphery vision.

"I usually come home a couple times a month. I'd really like if you let me see you from time to time." She said in a soft voice as she scooted forward to place a kiss on my bare shoulder.

I couldn't help laughing, "Okay, Vega. We'll see when the time comes."

She left my house shortly after that conversation ended, and I stayed where I was for another hour before dragging myself out of bed and into the shower. My phone was ringing when I got back into my bedroom.

"Hello?"

"Jade! Did you talk to her? How did it go?" Cat's cheery voice rang through the receiver.

"Why do I feel like you already know the answer to that?" I said as I sat on my bed, still wrapped in my towel.

"Okay, maybe Tori called me when she left. But she wouldn't say anything! She said you guys talked, but that's it." Cat whined.

I let out a chortle, "We hardly talked."

"Jade, you didn't!" Cat scolded.

"I couldn't help it, Cat. It's those damn eyes. They get me every time." I sighed as I laid back on my bed, my legs dangling off the edge.

"Well, we're all going to her house tonight to hang out, I guess we'll see how things go then." Cat said. I could tell she was frustrated with me. On the plane, we had made a plan that the first time I got Vega alone I would demand answers. Granted I did get some answers, things still didn't go the way we had planned.

A few hours later, I found myself walking up to Vega's front door, rapping my knuckles on it twice and waiting a few seconds before she answered the door, giving me a radiant smile. I returned her smile, albeit it was much shyer than hers. She ushered me in with a wink and I saw the rest of the group already seated in the living room. The only open room was on the love seat and I wanted to shake my head at how obvious Beck, Andre, and Cat were being, cramming all three of them on one couch and forcing Robbie to sit on the floor.

When I took my seat, Vega joined me and her leg was pressed against mine as she leaned back into the sofa.

"Let's watch a movie." She suggested.

"If it isn't a scary one, I'm going home." I said loudly.

"Sure you will." She whispered sarcastically, only loud enough for me to hear.

Beck put in some creepy indie slasher movie I hadn't seen yet and turned the lights down low. Vega had procured a blanket at some point, draping it over our laps as she snuggled closer into me. I had tried my best to put all my attention towards the movie, but the way she slid her hand into mine was making that difficult.

What was she playing at now? Snuggling with me? My body was tense for the first half hour of the film as she did her best to try to relax me. At one point, sick of clenching my entire body, I unwound and let my body sink into hers.

When the movie ended, Beck turned the lights back up and to my surprise, Vega remained in the position she was in; clasping my hand tight and leaning almost all of her body weight into me. Beck and Robbie left shortly after. Cat, Andre, and I were beginning to feel the jet-lag from our flights, all of us standing and stretching and making a general consensus that we were leaving.

"Stay." Vega pouted, tugging on my arm like a child.

"Not tonight." I said firmly, putting my foot down. I had to at least act like I had some semblance of control here.

She walked the three of us to the door, and once Andre and Cat were out of the house, she pulled me back in and placed a sound kiss on my lips, "I'll see you before we leave?"

"You have my number." I said shortly, leaning in for another kiss before walking out the door. Andre and Cat both stood in the driveway waiting for me.

"What is that girl playing at?" Andre asked aloud as I walked up to them.

"It's driving me fucking crazy." I snapped.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" He asked me, looking at me with a concern I wouldn't imagine him giving the person who was not his best friend.

I shook my head, "I don't even know what there is to say anymore."

Andre and Cat looked at me, a feeling of defeat resting in their eyes as I shrugged again and left without another word.

Vega came over the night before our flights were due to leave. As we had sex, I'll admit I was a little more rough with her than I usually was, letting all of my frustration out of my body and onto hers. She never complained, never whined. In all honesty, it seemed like she was doing much the same, actually drawing blood as she scratched down my back.

The thing that surprised me was that when we were finished and I anticipated her to quickly leave, she snuggled closely into my side and kissed the crook of my neck, whispering "Goodnight, Jade." And we fell asleep.

During the three weeks before Christmas break, Vega made an exceptional effort to keep in contact with me. We talked on the phone almost every night, and I started getting used to hearing her voice wishing me a goodnight before I'd drift off to sleep.

There was no answer about whether or not we were together. Then again, I never asked so she never had an answer to give.

It wasn't until we all returned for Christmas, well I was home for good at this point, when things started to get crazy again. She met me at the airport this time instead of Beck. Apparently she had gotten home a few days before me. We went back to my place again and she took the time to kiss every inch of my body, whispering how much she missed me as she brought me to climax over and over again.

A few days before Christmas, Vega had just left my house when I got a phone call from Cat. She was in the middle of a production and wouldn't be able to make it home for the holidays unfortunately.

"Hey Kit Cat." I said as I looked at myself in my vanity mirror. I had a small hickey on my collar bone, courtesy of Vega.

"Jade, how are you?" Cat asked, and I instantly noticed how nervous her voice sounded, which instantly made me nervous.

"I'm fine. What's going on, Cat?" I asked.

"Have you talked to Tori lately?"

I made a weird face, as if she could actually see my reaction to her question, "She just left my place like five minutes ago, why?"

"How are things between the two of you?" She asked, and I was beginning to get irritated with the fact that she was asking all of these ridiculous questions when I knew she could get the answer she was looking for much quicker.

"We're fine. I mean, I guess not fine, but we're the same as we always are." I answered, frustration evident in my voice.

"Wow. You're taking this better than I thought you would." Cat said, and I could hear her let out a sigh.

"Taking what better? Cat, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Tori's boyfriend. I was anticipating a screaming phone call with the sounds of you breaking things in the background. Like that time..." Her voice trailed off and I didn't hear anything else she was saying. My blood had run stone cold hearing what she had just said.

"Tori's...boyfriend?" I whispered.

Cat's story faltered, "She didn't tell you, did she? Oh Jade, I'm sorry." Cat started slewing off a string of apologies, though none were heard as I hung up my phone and stormed out of my house.

When I pulled into her driveway, I jumped out of the car and bounded up to her front door, slamming my fist into the wood three times before opening the door and walking in anyway. Vega was standing in the middle of her living room, clearly on the way to answer the door.

"Jade, did I forget something at your house?" She asked with a coy little smile.

"Yeah. My fucking respect for you. Jesus Christ, Vega, you have a fucking boyfriend? And that just wasn't something you thought I should know?" I shouted at her, not really caring if any of her family was home. Her face paled as she looked at me with wide eyes.

"I can explain."

"Really? Because I would love to hear you try to explain what made you think you could fucking play with my feelings all while you've got some fucking boyfriend back in Florida." I yelled.

"How about you explain to me how you had sex with Cat when you went to see her in New York?" Vega retorted, my anger clearly seeping into her like a virus.

I let out a loud laugh, "You're kidding me right? You have got to be delusional if you think those two situations are even close to being the same thing. You and I weren't dating when I went to New York, you made that painfully clear before you left."

"But why keep it a secret?" She persisted.

I looked at her, aghast to what she was trying to pull, "Do you hear how demented you sound right now? You don't want to be with me, but you don't want anyone else to have me either. You can't have it both ways, Vega. How dare you twist something around to make me seem like the bad guy when I've done nothing but tell you that I want to be with you. You're the one cheating. You're the one with someone back in Florida that you just conveniently forgot to mention while you were fucking going down on me."

Her faced blushed at my crass language, "Jade..."

"Stop it, Tori. Just let it go. I'm done. I'm over all this bull shit." I said before walking back out the door I had just came through. I got in my car and drove back to my house, storming in and slamming my bedroom door.

I didn't talk to anyone for almost a week after that. Cat's calls went unanswered. Vega's visits to my house were ignored. Even when Andre and Beck managed to crawl in through my bedroom window, I did nothing but lay on my bed in the fetal position, not even having the strength to threaten them for coming into my house.

"It's fucked up, Jade. What she's doing to you." Andre said to me, his voice soothing like honey.

"If it makes you feel any better, she's a mess too." Beck said as he sat perched on my bed, his hand placed on my side in a comforting way.

"It would make me feel better if she lost all her fingernails." I grumbled.

"Damn." Andre said, visibly shuddering.

"She wants to see you before she leaves again." Beck said, nudging me slightly.

"Fat chance." I chortled.

"I know I should agree with you, but maybe you should see her. Get closure from the whole situation so you can move on." Beck suggested.

"Beck's right. We aren't telling you to forgive her, but maybe this'll be what you need to close that door for good." Andre agreed.

"We'll see." I said. They left shortly after once they realized that I wasn't going to get out of bed to do any of the things they had suggested.

Two days later, Vega was at my doorstep, holding a small bouquet of flowers.

"I hate flowers." I said when I opened the door.

"I know. I brought a pair of scissors so you could cut them up." She said, pulling the scissors out of her back pocket. I accepted the two items and walked away from the door.

"I'm sorry." She said once we were in my bedroom.

"I don't care." I said, plopping down on my bed.

"Jade, you have to know how much I care about you, how much I want to be-"

"No." I snapped, "Do not tell me you want to be with me when the only thing you've ever wanted was to get in my pants."

She looked at me offended, "You know that isn't true."

"Isn't it? That's all we do. We fuck and then you leave. You are the queen of the nail-and-bail, Vega." I said sarcastically.

She stood, taking the flowers and scissors out of my hands and straddling me, holding my wrists tightly, "I like you, Jade. So much it scares me. I just...I need to figure myself out."

"Then figure yourself right out of my fucking life, Tori. I don't need to be your little science experiment." I said, keeping my eyes fixed on hers. I saw the hurt register, but she didn't retreat.

"I was planning on breaking up with Desmond when I got back to Florida. I couldn't do something like that over the phone." She paused, clearly waiting for a response from me. When she got nothing, she continued, "I'm not going anywhere. I will make this up to you." She said, and the sincerity of her words scared me.

"We'll see." I said, and after a moment of silence, she got off of my lap and headed for my door.

She paused in the doorway, "Do you love me, Jade?"

"Never ask me that." I snapped, speaking through clenched teeth and hoping she couldn't tell that I was about to cry.

She looked at me sadly, nodded, and walked out the door.

I wanted so badly for her to prove to me she was worth it, that way I could justify still loving her after what she had just done to me.


	5. Chapter 5

Weeks went by after Vega walked out of my room, and I have to give her credit where credit is due. Not a day went by that I didn't get a sappy text message apologizing for what happened and a promise to remedy what had been broken. Twice she sent me flowers, and despite my adamant claim that I hated them, they were beautiful. One day in February, I got a voicemail from her:

"I know you're still ignoring me, and I don't blame you. At all, actually. What I did was...was shitty. And awful. And I deserve everything you've said. I just..I miss you, Jade. So much. I just wanted to hear your voice. I'm coming home this weekend. If it's okay with you, I'd love to see you. Well...bye."

I hung up the phone, but not before saving the message. She was coming home and she wanted to see me. God, I wanted to see her. So badly. But could I do that? Could I let myself need her again? In all honesty, I hadn't stopped. I've wanted to reply so many times to her messages, forgiving her for what happened, but I knew I couldn't do that.

Especially after finding out that she had been dating that Desmond guy all the way back to Thanksgiving break. She just hadn't told anyone about it until after the blow up during Christmas. Cat told me that when Vega told her and Robbie about it, Robbie seemed ecstatic and congratulated her. At that moment, Cat realized that he hadn't known about the two of us. At that point, not only were they dealing with a frustrated Robbie for being left in the dark, but an incredibly pissed off Cat. Andre had told me that he straight up walked out of Vega's house when she told him, ignoring her for three days until he could figure out how he felt about the situation. Beck said he told Vega straight up that he didn't agree with what she had done, but he knew she didn't need to be alone at a time like this.

It caught me off guard to see how loyal everyone was to me. Whenever I imagined something terrible going down between Vega and myself, I always pictured everyone taking her side instead of mine.

Regardless, when she did come home, I agreed to see her. I wasn't sure why. I didn't know if I was doing it for closure, or to see if there was anything left to salvage between the two of us. So I paced my living room nervously trying to figure that out until I heard her gentle knock on the door. I paused, my heart clamoring in my chest as I pulled down my shirt, rubbing out any wrinkles. Taking a deep breath, I made my way to the door and opened it.

"Jade." She said, with a smile of relief of her face that almost made me want to pull her into my arms and tell her everything would be all right and that I still loved her.

"Vega," was what came out of my mouth instead, in a rather cold tone at that.

Her happiness faltered slightly as I moved aside so she could come in. We went upstairs to my bedroom and I wondered if maybe I should have kept this visit in the living room. There was no risk of anything happening there. Then again, I think deep down a part of me wanted something to happen again.

As soon as I closed the door and turned to her, she had wrapped me tightly in a hug. Her arms were secure around my neck, holding me as close to her body as physically possibly. When the initial shock faded, I found my own arms sliding around her waist, holding her just as tight, as two very polar emotions were raging inside me.

"Did you tell him about me?" I whispered, my lips so close to her ear, "The girl you go back to Hollywood to fuck and then leave?" I couldn't help it. This whole situation just fucked me up. You can say I'm being overdramatic all you want, but I couldn't stand the thought of her being with someone else. Or her lying about being with me.

Just as quickly had she embraced me was she shoving me back into the door I had just closed. My back hit the wood paneling hard as she clutched the fabric of my shirt in her fists.

"God dammit, Jade." She said through clenched teeth. My eyes widened at the fact that she had just sworn. Tears were spilling out of her eyes as she looked at me, "I don't know what you want from me anymore. I've apologized. Hundreds of times. I can't tell you how sorry I am, and it just pisses me off that you won't accept it. I made a mistake. I get it. I've been suffering for it every day since I left. And you..." She turned around at this point, and her eyes caught something that made her sentence trail off. I followed to what she was pointing at now to see three sets of bouquets hanging from the ceiling.

Yeah, I saved all the flowers she gave me. So what?

Vega turned back to look at me and I saw the smallest smile playing on her lips, "You kept them."

I took a deep breath, trying my hardest to remain stoic regardless of the fact that her eyes were making me melt, "Yeah, well. You paid for them. It would have been rude to just throw them away."

"But you didn't destroy them." She said, that smirk growing slightly.

I rolled my eyes and let my arms drop to my sides, "Sit down, Vega." I ordered, nodding to the foot of my bed. She obeyed, perching herself delicately and crossing her legs. I moved in front of her and leaned against my dresser as I thought about what I was going to say.

"What is it?" Vega asked.

"I wanna tell you about New York." I said.

I watched as she bit down on her lip as a wave of uneasiness washed over her posture. It piqued my interest. Why would she feel uneasy? After all, she was the one who wanted to know what happened.

"I went to see Cat," I started, speaking slowly as I looked away from her, "I wanted to talk to someone about what was going on with you and me. Who better to see than the only other person in Hollywood that you were close to? Aside from Andre, that is. But at the moment I figured he was out of bounds. That's besides the point, though. So Cat pulled out a bottle of wine and the next thing I know I'm waking up the next morning in her bed in only my underwear and a rather vivid recollection of doing something that I had thought was long over." I looked up to see the hurt in Vega's eyes, "It is long over, Tori. It was over back when I told you about it when we were still in high school. I was vulnerable. Cat's always been a safety net for me. Neither of us anticipated for that to happen, and we both agreed that it never will happen again."

"Why didn't you just tell me about it?" Vega asked desperately as she wrung her hands in her lap.

"When would you have liked me to tell you? While you were ignoring me? Or how about when you came home to apologize for ignoring me? And what exactly was I supposed to say? I forgive you, Tor. Oh by the way, I drunkenly had sex with Cat because I was so miserable about you. Hey, wanna get some froyo?" I said sarcastically before continuing, "Why would it even have mattered?"

"Because the two of you have history, Jade. A whole lot of it, too. You said yourself that you loved her. Obviously that's going to make me feel a little uneasy about pursuing anything with you knowing that there could always be a chance of you leaving if Cat decided she loved you back." Vega said in a loud voice.

I looked at her, my mouth slightly agape. I guess I hadn't thought about it. This whole time it was just Vega cheating on her boyfriend with me and not telling me about it. I was so angry the last time she tried bringing what happened between Cat and I into it that all I saw was red and I snapped.

"There isn't anything there anymore, Vega. That much I can promise you." I said quietly as I shook my head. We both took a moment of silence to cool off and I could see Vega thinking about everything I had told her.

Vega nodded, "You know, Cat told me pretty much the same thing when I talked to her about what happened. She said you looked so broken and she just wanted to fix you. Along with some very colorful words about how I had no right to even ask about what happened, considering it was because of me that you there in the first place. You know, it's funny. You might not realize it, but you both are always doing things to protect each other, even if it's subconsciously."

I chuckled, "Sounds like us."

"I know everyone hates me for what happened over Christmas." She said, biting down on her lip, "I hate me, too. But I couldn't help it." I made a move to argue with what she had just said, but she held up her hand to silence me before continuing, "It's what you do to me, Jade. When I first moved out to Florida, I tried to convince myself that we'd be better off apart. That's why I started dating Desmond. But every time I talked to you, I realized how wrong I was. And when I came back and saw you it was driving me crazy. I didn't want anyone else, I just couldn't admit it."

Taking a seat next to her, I let my hands fall to my lap, "I wouldn't say they hate you." I said quietly, the only comforting thing I could think to say.

"Cat called me a bitch." Vega said with a dark laugh.

"What?" I asked, shock evident in not only my voice but my wide eyes.

Vega nodded, "Yeah. Over Christmas break, after she found out that I didn't tell you about Desmond. The whole reason I came over was to tell you about him. Obviously, you know that's not how things went. Andre wouldn't talk to me, either. Not for a few days at least. Robbie...well, Robbie still hasn't spoken to me. But I don't know if it's because of what happened, or because he didn't know that something was going on between us in the first place. Beck was the only one, but I could see in his eyes he wasn't happy with me. I think he wanted to play the peace keeper between the two of us. Be the line of communication."

"Sounds like Beck." I said with a chortle.

Vega laughed and nodded, "Yeah. He never did waste a chance to tell me I didn't deserve you, though." She said, nudging me with her shoulder. We shared a soft laugh.

"You broke up with him, right?" I asked, my voice hardly audible.

"The minute I got back to Florida." She said definitively.

I bit down on my lower lip, "So where does that leave us?"

"I think I should be asking you that." Vega retorted, looking at me apologetically.

I nodded, looking at my lap, "I shouldn't, but I still want to be with you, Tori." I felt her let out a deep sigh of relief, "But things are gonna be different. We go on a few dates. Maybe I let you kiss me goodnight after the third date. Maybe I ask you to be my girlfriend down the road."

She gave me a skeptical look, "You're going to wait three dates to kiss me again?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Is that a challenge, Vega?"

Leaning in slightly, she gave me a playful smile, "If I say no, will you kiss me now?"

For the first time in what felt like forever, I smiled at her before nodding my head ever so slightly and leaning in to kiss her. I reveled in the feeling I had missed for so long while we had been fighting. I cupped her cheek gently as my tongue slid across her lower lip, a polite inquiry for entrance. She granted it for me, and as I deepened the kiss I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket.

"Saved by the bell." I joked as I pulled away slowly. She looked at me dreamily as I took the phone out and saw a message from Cat.

"Who is it?" Vega asked.

"Cat. I forgot I told her to invite everyone over. My parents are gone. I figured we could get a little drunk and try to put all of this behind us."

"Were you...were you planning on forgiving me?"

"Honestly? No. But I knew if I didn't, I'd need to get really drunk to cope with it." I said dryly as I punched in a quick message to Cat telling them to come over in a few hours.

Vega and I spent that time alone lying in my bed, her fingers intertwined with mine as she played with my ring. We talked about what else was going on in our lives. She had been working on her degree in psychology, but was beginning to question if that was truly what she wanted.

"So what would you do instead?" I asked as I propped the hand she wasn't playing with behind my head.

"I don't know, really. Maybe move back home. Try my hand at getting a record deal. Andre said he's been talking to some producers out here and that he could get a demo out for me.

I couldn't fight the smile on my face, "That sounds like it would be really perfect for you."

"Plus, I'd get to see you whenever I want." She said with a giggle.

"I guess." I said, letting out a dramatic sigh and rolling my eyes playfully. She gently pushed me with a laugh.

"So...what are we going to tell them?" Vega asked, looking at me nervously.

"Nothing." I said simply, feeling her judgmental eyes fixing themselves onto me, "There isn't anything to tell right now. I don't see the point in involving everyone over something that isn't even definitive." She nodded, but I could tell she didn't understand, "Look, having everyone know what's going on with us is going to complicate things when we don't even know what's going on ourselves. But the second we know for sure, we can tell the entire world for all I care." I said, giving her a warm smile. It took her a minute to warm up to the idea, but she finally did.

"You're right. Let's go down stairs. They'll probably be here soon."

She was right. Minutes later, the rest of our friends came filing into my house. Robbie still looked sour, and my first instinct was to pull him aside and apologize.

"Robbie, I cannot believe I'm actually doing this, but I'm sorry. About the whole thing with Vega. It wasn't something that we announced back then. If anything, everyone found out on accident. It wasn't personal." I said, feeling uncomfortable with the thought of actually apologizing to him.

"I get it. It's just...weird. I thought you would have killed her before ever kissing her." Robbie said feebly, clearly nervous to be in close proximity with me.

"Did I hear that right? Did Jade West just apologize to someone?" Beck said, coming up behind me and slinging his arm around my shoulders.

"That's not something you could even make up." Andre said from his place on the couch.

I rolled my eyes as I slunk out of Beck's grasp, "You guys think you're so funny, don't you?" They both looked around and nodded. I went into the kitchen to fix my drink when Cat came up beside me, looking at me very intently.

"So what happened?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"Nothing." I answered blandly.

"Nothing?"

I shrugged, "We're not anything right now. But we're not, not anything either. I don't know. We're figuring things out. But we're not telling anyone, Cat. So you better keep your mouth shut about this one." I said in a threatening manner.

"My lips are sealed, Jade." She said, dramatically pantomiming zipping her lips shut and tossing an invisible key behind her.

"Good. Now let's get drunk." I said with a wicked smile as I took my cup and walked into the living room, "Don't be shy guys, you never are at Vega's." I said, giving them all the permission they needed to raid the liquor cabinet.

A few hours later, and my buzz was really hitting me. Andre had put some music on and Vega and I were dancing in the corner. Not exactly dancing with each other, but dancing close enough that every so often our bodies would gingerly brisk each other.

The song ended, and we walked away laughing, leaning into each other as we fell onto the couch. At this point, events are slowly bleeding into the other and the next thing I remember the clearest is dragging Vega up to my bedroom and shoving her into the closed door, my hands roaming her body as my lips reacquainted themselves with her throat.

She moaned as her fingers threaded through my hair, "What happened to taking things slow?"

I chuckled against her neck, "I said things would be different, Vega. I never said anything about taking it slow." I paused as I removed myself from her grasp and let out a dramatic sigh, "But if you'd rather we go slow, then I guess that's something I can arrange." I turned around and stretched once I pulled my top off, "I'm beat, anyway." Casting a glance over my shoulder, I almost laughed at the predatory look in Vega's eyes.

She quickly closed the distance between us, her fingers clasping onto my hips as she buried her nose in my hair, "Slow has never really been our thing." She whispered hoarsely into my hear.

"Then let's get back to what we were doing." I said with a devilish smirk as I turned around and kissed her roughly. She gave a little jump and wrapped her legs around my waist as I carried her to my bed.

I kissed down the column of her throat, adoring the noises she made as her hands fumbled with the clasp of my bra. When she finally got it undone, I pulled back, daintily removing the lace fabric from my body and dropping it on the floor.

"My God, you're gorgeous." She said breathlessly.

Smiling slyly, I gently slid my hands up her denim-clad legs, "I hope you say that about yourself every now and again. Now let's get these off of you." I said throatily as I tugged down the zipper of her jeans. It was at this moment that I realized how drunk I was, because getting those jeans off of her was a task in itself. While I was preoccupied, she pulled off her top and threw it behind me. I let out a low whistle as I appraised her half-naked body, "Yeah. I could get used to this." I said before lowering my body onto her and kissing her fiercely.

I put my leg in between hers and pressed into her, not even bothering to hide the smile that broke across my face as she instantly pushed back into me, creating a steady rhythm.

"Jade, let me." She said, breaking from the kiss and pushing me off of her and moving over me instead. Her lips moved down my throat and in between my breasts and once she reached my black lace underwear, she chanced a glance up to my eyes. I was biting down on my lower lip in anticipation, and I watched as a grin broke across her face as she looped her fingers into the garment and pulled it down from my legs.

"Are you ready?" She whispered, ghosting her lips on my inner thigh.

I let out a dramatic groan, "I'm not getting any younger here, Ve-oh God." She silenced any further ranting that was on its way by driving me wild.

It didn't take long until I was thrown from the edge with Vega's skillful tongue. As my body hummed from the pleasure still coursing through my veins, Vega kissed her way back up to my lips. I took a moment to bask in the continuous open-mouthed kisses she placed all over my body as I recuperated. It didn't take long until I was pushing her onto her back and kissing her soundly on the mouth.

"Jade." She breathed into my ear. I took that as an invitation to move things along as my hand slide down her stomach and brushing past her panty line. I attached my lips to her neck, biting and sucking as I got her worked up with her back arching off the bed and her nails digging into my side.

"Say my name." I whispered into her ear. She complied weakly, and then slowly it got louder until her entire body tensed and released, though her grip in my hair and shoulder was deliciously painful.

I listened to her breathing return to normal and watched the blissful smile that graced that beautiful face.

"I could fall in love with someone like you." I whispered before cuddling into her side, placing my face in the crook of her neck and drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

I awoke the next morning with one hell of a headache and an empty bed. Whoa, an empty bed? What the hell? The thought of Vega pulling another nail-and-bail caused me to jump up, probably faster than I should have. The blood rushing to my head made me a little dizzy, and the hangover wasn't doing much to help that either. I looked around my room to see that all of our clothes from the night before were still strewn about haphazardly. That made me feel slightly better. The thought that Vega was currently walking around my house in my clothes made me feel even better.

Dressing quickly, I walked out of my room in a pair of boxers and a loose tank top. I moved slowly down the stairs to see the rest of the group sitting around my kitchen table with a large plate of waffles in the center. They all looked at me with wide smiles and amused expressions. Add the confusion I was experiencing to my headache, and the fact that I'm not a morning person to begin with, and you have one unhappy girl.

"Jade." Beck greeted with a nod and a smile.

"Why are you guys smiling like that? It's fucking weird." I said, my voice gravely as I ran a hand through my hair and moved towards the kitchen. Vega greeted me with a grin and a cup of coffee.

"Here." She said sweetly, handing me the cup.

I took it graciously, passing her a tentative smile as I drank deeply from the cup. My eyes widened, "Holy fuck."

She leaned forward and whispered, "Cat taught me how you like it."

"Why are they all smiling?" I whispered back as we had our backs to the group.

Vega let out a laugh, "You don't remember much from last night, huh?"

"I remember giving you that hickey." I said as I flicked the reddish mark on her neck. She flinched and gave me a look before speaking again.

"Hey guys, any of you wanna tell Jade about last night?" Vega asked the group as she turned around and leaned against the counter.

They all looked at each other laughing until Beck finally spoke up, "I'll do the honors."

And as he began, the pieces that were missing suddenly fell into place and I began to recall everything that would make those fools laugh like idiots.

Apparently, the drunk version of me ignored everything I had told Vega about not telling our friends and not knowing what we were. As the night went on and the drinks kept pouring, I basically slung myself around her, kissing on her neck and holding her as close to my body as possible at all times.

"What is going on with you two?" Beck asked curiously when I had Vega in my lap.

"That's a good question." Vega had replied, looking back at me.

"Beck's just jealous that I've got the prettiest girl on my lap right now." I had said in a sickeningly sweet way.

"Oh God. Drunk Jade is here. Careful, Tori." Beck said in a joking matter.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vega asked, sounding nervous.

"I'm sure you'll find out." Beck said, raising his cup to us and taking a drink.

Later on, the rest of the group was still in the living room while Vega and I had found ourselves in my kitchen. I was fixing her a drink, though she distracted me with a feverish kiss, pushing me back into the counter as her body pressed itself firmly into mine.

"Oh God!" Cat's airy voice broke us apart as we looked at her with wide eyes. Cat put a finger over her lips and threw in a dramatic wink before flouncing back into the living room.

We joined the others once we both had fresh drinks and as I stood there, a wonderful idea came into my head, "Hey!" I shouted, gaining everyone's attention. Vega looked at me nervously as I continued to speak, "I've got something to tell you guys." I leaned into Vega for support, "This girl. Right here. She's mine." I paused, gathering my thoughts, "Well, she will be."

Everyone looked at me with wide eyes and Vega tugged me back into the kitchen, "What are you doing?" She asked, panic in her eyes, "I thought you didn't want to tell anyone."

I rolled my eyes and waved her off, "Fuck that."

"Jade. Is this drunk Jade talking?" Vega asked slowly

"Drunk Jade is normal Jade. And normal Jade just wants to be with you." I said, leaning into her and pouting.

She looked at me with narrowed eyes, appraising my intentions, "Are you sure?"

I stood, trying to look as sober as possible, "I'm positive, Tori. I really am."

"We should talk about this tomorrow." Vega said.

"Of course." I said, sighing dramatically, "But now isn't the time for talking! Come on." I dragged her back into the living room where everyone was whispering in hushed tones.

"Guys. Girl. Robbie. I'd love to spend time talking with you guys, but let's be honest, what I really want it to take Tori upstairs and make her scream my name." I said loudly as I held Vega's hand and dragged her toward the stairs.

"Oh my God, Jade!" She said in a scolding tone, though following me all the same, "I'm so sorry guys. She's...well, you know." She said as we disappeared up the stairs.

And at that point, I'm all caught up with what I missed, so now I'm looking at my four friends, standing next to Vega, and I'm absolutely mortified.

"Oh fuck." I said. I looked at Vega who was now staring at me nervously, her bottom lip pulled in between her teeth.

"Jade, are you okay?" She asked quietly.

After a moment of thought, I looked at her with a smile, "Well, I guess we figured it out. I guess I took care of the awkward coming out about our relationship with our friends."

She returned my smile, but I saw a flash of nervousness pass over her face again, "Are you sure? Are you sure you're okay with this? I mean..."

"Hey," I cut her off, pulling her body close to mine, wrapping one arm around her waist as the other cupped her cheek, "I'm not taking back a single thing I said last night. You're mine." That thousand-watt smile returned as I pulled her in for a kiss.

"Come on, now. Break it up." Andre said jokingly from his seat at the table. We pulled apart and I walked over to them.

"Someone's gonna have to move, 'coz I'm starving." I said as I pulled up a chair from the breakfast bar and sat it on the other side of Cat. After eating two waffles with barely a breath, I paused and leaned back, "Christ, who made these?" I asked.

"Tori did. Your girl can cook." Andre said as he took another bite.

I looked over to Vega who was standing next to the stove making more waffles. She looked at me with a smile.

"Damn straight, she's my girl." I said quietly.

**I guess this could be the end. It snuck up on me! I'll keep going if you guys want, though. Until next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

Letting Vega go after that weekend was bittersweet. We were together now, but we'd have to be able to be apart. At least until she finished this semester. That shouldn't be too hard, right? I was hoping that would be the case, at least. In all honesty, I was incredibly uneasy about her going back. It isn't that I don't trust her. Okay, maybe it has everything to do with the fact that I don't entirely trust her. I'm assuming she's probably going through the same turmoil because Cat's production had completed for the season, so she would be back in Hollywood to spend time with those of us that were home until her next casting call.

So that Sunday when Vega's flight was due to leave back to Florida, the group had congregated at my place to say our goodbyes until the next time we'd all be here at the same time. Robbie had left early that morning, missing out on the sickeningly sweet reunion. I'll point out the fact that this wasn't my idea, it was all Vega's. I just offered my place. I didn't even offer my place now that I'm thinking about it. Vega did all the orchestrating for this little event. Shit, am I already whipped? Regardless, Andre was the first to leave, having to stop at his grandmother's before going to the airport.

"Everything's gonna be okay now." He whispered into my ear as he wrapped me into a warm hug.

"I hope so, Andre. I hope so." I replied before letting him go. He hugged Vega next, whispering something into her ear as well. She gave him a knowing smile and nodded her head when they parted. Finally, he turned and picked Cat up and twirled her around.

"I'll see you when I come back, Little Red." He said once he let her down. Turning to Beck, he shook his hand, saying something that manly men do when they depart. They shared a laugh and hugged anyway. Then, he picked this bag off of the floor and was out the door.

"And then there were four." Beck said once the door clicked shut.

"Don't forget three!" Cat said with a giggle. We all looked at her puzzled and she instantly began twirling her hair around her fingers, "I have to go back to my house now. My brother needs help with something, but he made me promise not to tell what."

Three sighs and shaking heads was the response Cat got.

"I'll take you." Beck offered, running a hand through his hair. He walked over to me and hugged me tightly, "Give me a call sometime, Jade. We are friends after all." He said, giving me that look that always managed to make me feel guilty.

"I'll probably take you up on the offer." I said with a smile.

"Tori." He said as he hugged her, too, "You better take care of her. She may look like she's a bunch rough edges, but it's all honey underneath that." He said jokingly in a whisper clearly intended for me to hear.

"Beck!" I shouted.

"I'm gone!" He laughed as he ran out the front door.

Cat went and hugged Vega, and I watched as Vega's facial expression changed slightly, and not exactly in a good way, assuming Cat had whispered something in Vega's ear.

"I'll see you tonight, Jade?" Cat asked hopefully as she turned to look at me.

"Of course, Kit Cat. I'll call you later." I nodded with a smile.

"Yay!" She giggled as she bounced out the door as well.

"And then there were two." I said with a smile. Vega quickly closed the distance between the two of us, placing a sound kiss on my lips, but it didn't stop there. She deepened the kiss as her hands twisted in my hair, guiding me backwards to the couch behind me. When the back of my legs hit the piece of furniture, I fell onto it and Vega didn't hesitate to climb onto my lap and attach her lips to my neck.

"Jesus Christ, Vega. What's this about?" I said with a labored breath as I desperately tried to cling to her body in any way I could.

"I just don't want you to forget that you're mine." She whispered in my ear before nipping at my ear lobe.

What she had just said shocked me, so I pulled her away and looked her dead in the eye, "Why would I forget that?"

She looked at me with uneasiness in her eyes as she pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth, "It's just...I'll be gone. I don't..."

Anger flickered inside me, just a spark but it was enough, "I didn't forget about you the first time you left. Or the second. Did you just forget about how much effort I put into this in the beginning?"

"I'm just...it's..." She stammered, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation.

"Oh my God. It's because Cat's back, isn't it?" I asked, looking at her through hard eyes. She said nothing, so I took her silence as the best kind of answer I could get. I stood, her still in my lap and then moved to drop her on the couch as I began pacing.

"Jade, calm down." Vega said in her soothing voice.

"No, Tori. I'm not going to calm down. If you can't trust me to be around my best friend, how can you trust me with anything else? I told you that was over. In the past. Done. Do you think...Do you think I'm just one hundred percent okay with you going back to Florida? You know Cat. You know she wouldn't try anything with me now that you and I are together. I don't know shit about your new friends or this Desmond guy. How am I supposed to know that he won't try to make a move one night that you're feeling vulnerable about being away from me?" I asked incredulously.

Vega looked at me and I could see the tears welling in her eyes, "Maybe this was a mistake then."

Panic set in the moment those words resonated in my head as I watched her stand and grab her bag off of the couch next to her. She started to walk towards the door, and for a moment I thought I was going to let her leave. But I remembered the way it felt to not have her and that pain propelled me forward. I grabbed her arm and turned her around, pushing her gently into the door as I kissed her passionately.

"Then it'll be the best mistake we ever made." I whispered once I pulled away. I looked at her and she didn't look too convinced, "Tori, we have to trust each other. Nothing is going to happen with Cat, that I can guarantee."

"And nothing will happen with Desmond. I haven't even heard from him since the day we broke up." Vega finally replied, causing my clamoring heart to settle a little bit.

"We can do this." I said confidently before capturing her lips again, sliding my tongue against her bottom lip and biting down gently.

"I'm gonna miss my flight." Vega said, slightly breathless.

"We should get going then." I said, before she collected her things again and we made our way to the car.

As we drove, a comfortable silence had blanketed over us with just the radio humming quietly in the background.

"Can I ask you something?" This came out of my mouth before I really thought about it.

Vega looked at me with a smile, "Of course."

"What did Cat say to you when she was saying goodbye?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the road.

"She told me not to mess up again." Vega said quietly, sighing at the end of her sentence, "I don't think I'll ever be able to redeem myself in her eyes."

"Of course you can." I said as I reached over and squeezed her knee, "Just treat me like a princess and Cat will be just fine." I threw her a wink.

"You hate princesses." Vega said with a laugh.

"You know what I mean." I said, rolling my eyes.

We arrived at the airport and when we were at her terminal, she looked at me with tears welling in her eyes, "Jade."

"Stop." I said with warning in my voice as I pointed at her, "No tears. Nothing even close to it. You'll be back for spring break. That's like what, only a month away? If even?" I said hopefully.

She blinked away the tears and nodded, "You're right. I'll call you when I get there?"

"You better." I said with a smile. She pulled me in for a hug, squeezing me so tight I thought I might explode. As we pulled away, I leaned in and kissed her, probably a little more intensely than what is usually necessary for a public display of affection. Whatever.

"Bye Jade." She said as she walked away.

"See ya later, kid." I replied, waving her off. I stood there for a moment, until I couldn't see her anymore. She looked back a few times to wave again, and I had to chuckle at that.

The next two weeks were filled with hanging out with Cat, and actually hanging out with Beck too. He was right when he said we were still friends, I guess in the chaos of everything with Vega, I kind of forgot. My days were filled with going to the beach, the park, out for coffee, pretty much anything with Beck or Cat, and then every night Vega called me and we talked about our days. It was nice. I was happy.

Until one day I got a text from Vega when I was at my house, trying to work on a new script.

_This is our little secret. I can't wait to see you tonight!_

I was so shocked about what I was reading, I couldn't even formulate a response. She clearly had sent it to the wrong person. I mean, I wasn't seeing her tonight, and nothing we do was really done in secret anymore. My pulse was almost out of control and I was surprised that my heart stayed in my chest. I dropped the pen that had been in my hand and began pacing my room.

Was she...was Vega cheating on me? I mean, that message is kind of ambiguous and in reality, it could mean anything. It could be a friend or something. But of course my head thought the worst as my hands shook. Images of her with that Desmond guy, hell maybe even some other girl, were completely taking over my mind as I stormed out of my bedroom and out of my house.

I drove for what seemed like forever until I reached my subconscious destination of Cat's house. I walked up her driveway and knocked on her front door. My entire body was vibrating with a slew of emotions. I was angry, devastated, and even a bit surprised.

"Jade? Are you okay?" Cat asked once she answered the door.

"I think... Cat, I think she's cheating on me." I managed to fumble out before Cat pulled me into the house.

It was around seven thirty when I got there, and the sun was just about to set as Cat and I sat on her back patio on a giant swing. I handed my phone over to her and she read the message and shook her head.

"Did she say anything back?" She asked.

I shook my head, "Nope. I don't know if she didn't realize she sent it to me, or if she saw it and just doesn't know what to do."

"And you haven't replied?"

"What am I supposed to say to that?" I asked, looking at Cat with sad eyes. Cat had much the same expression.

"I don't really know, Jade." Her voice was soft. I let out a sigh as I scooted over and leaned into her. I felt her arm slide around my waist and pull me closer to her.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked quietly, not really expecting an answer until Cat pushed me up and forced me to look at her.

"Nothing. There is nothing wrong with you. It's her not realizing what an amazing person you are and how she's throwing away the best thing that'll ever happen to her." Cat said, speaking with such passion I couldn't help the blush that spread across my face. We sat in silence for a moment, a tense stare being shared between the two of us. Cat's expression was unreadable, so I stayed quiet as I wondered what was going to happen next.

"I probably should have gone to Beck for this one." I said quietly.

Cat looked hurt, "Why would you say something like that?"

"You know what happens when we try to comfort each other." I said in a whisper.

"Well, maybe that's exactly why you came to me, then." Cat said, her voice equally as soft.

"We said that was in the past." I replied, our lips only a centimeter apart now.

"Tori also said you could trust her." As soon as that came out of her mouth, the conversation I had with Vega the day she left sprang back into my memory.

I pulled back completely, "I promised her this would never happen again." I said firmly.

"And she said she was completely yours. She didn't keep her promise either." Cat argued. I was beginning to get confused by the impression Cat was giving me.

"Cat, what are you saying?"

"Maybe she's not right for you." Cat said, looking at me with those big brown eyes.

"And you are?" I asked incredulously before standing from the swing and scoffing, "No way, Cat. I am not doing this. You can't just tell me one day that you couldn't be what I want, just to change your mind and tell me that you're exactly what I need. That's not fair." I said, tears threatening my demeanor.

"I wasn't ready back then, Jade. I was confused." Cat said, standing and walking towards me.

"What happened to friends first?" I said as she cupped my cheek gently.

"Do you love me, Jade?" She asked, her voice soft as her breath spread over my lips as she batted those long lashes at me.

Acting on their own volition, my hands held her hips tightly, "You know I always will." I said before pushing her back, "But I don't think we should see each other for a while." I said firmly.

"Jade." Cat said, disbelief drowning my name.

"You're supposed to be my voice of reason, Cat. Not undermining my relationship." I said as I took a step back.

"I'm only doing it because I know I could do better." Cat explained, taking a step closer.

I held up my hand to stop her, "You had your chance. Two separate times in my life did I give you the option to be with me. And you shot me down. You missed it. Please, don't call me. At least not until I've got this sorted out. I'll... I'll call you when I'm ready."

And that was it. I walked back into her house and through the front door. She didn't follow me, thank God. I don't think I could handle that. When I got in my car, I felt my body racked with the sobs I had been trying to suppress. I put the car in drive and went down to the beach where I sat for what seemed like forever trying to figure out what I was going to do.

I had received another message shortly after I arrived at the beach. A text from Tori:_ Oh God, Jade. That probably sounds horrible. I promise it isn't what you think. Why won't you answer your phone?_

I guess I hadn't realized my phone had been on silent. She had called me seven times. The smart thing would be to call her back and figure out what the hell that text meant. Even if it meant the end of our short-lived relationship. Or I could sit and wallow in self pity until she came home and then deal with it then. Jesus Christ, that is not how Jade West handles herself.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed the only person I knew could help me, "Hello?"

"Andre." I said, my voice shaking.

"Jade, what's wrong?" He asked, his voice thick with concern.

"I think..." I paused, clearing my throat and collecting my thoughts. After all, I was just about to accuse his best friend of cheating on me, "I think Tori might be cheating on me."

"What?" He exclaimed loudly, "No way, Jade. That's not...she wouldn't... No. Not possible. Not after everything she did to get you back in the first place. Why would you say that?" He rattled off quickly.

"I got this bogus text message earlier. Saying how whoever she meant to send it to needed to keep something a secret and how she couldn't wait to see them."

"Well, that could have meant anything, Jade." Andre said, and I noticed the slightest bit of uneasiness in his voice.

"Honestly? You really believe that." I said skeptically.

"Of course I do. Because I trust Tori, just like you should. I mean, come on, Jade." He said, attempting to reason with me.

"She cheated on that guy with me, Andre. What's stopping her from cheating on me?" I asked cynically.

"Because she loves you." Andre said simply. She loves me. Wait, she loves me? Andre must have realized he said something I hadn't heard because he started stammering something incoherent. I heard a girl's voice in the background and even in my current state, I had to smile.

"Damn, Harris. I didn't know you had company. You should've said something." I said, swallowing down the tears.

He laughed lightly, "Not like that, Jade. And besides, friends always come first. You need to relax. Isn't Tori coming home tomorrow? I'm sure she'll have a perfectly reasonable explanation."

"Yeah, but will I believe it?"

"You'll see the honesty in her eyes, Jade, and that'll be all you need." Andre said calmly. He was right. She really was a shit liar.

"Thanks, Andre. I...I really appreciate it." I said, followed by our goodbyes. I hung the phone up and looked back to the waves lapping at the shore. I was suddenly overcome with a strong feeling of anger.

The waves are constantly moving against the rocks, eroding them slowly, and they keep coming back. Taking a little bit more each time, relentlessly. And there isn't a damn thing that the rocks can do about it, but grin and bear it, and act like that aren't slowly being destroyed. It doesn't make much sense since rocks don't have feelings, but I just started feeling a slight correlation. As I reached over to grab one of the rocks that had been smoothed over by the water, I heard movement behind me. I cast a quick glance over my shoulder to see Beck making his way towards me.

"Hey." He said, giving me that tilted smile.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, ignoring his greeting. He sat next to me, resting his arms on either side of his legs as he pulled his knees up.

"Cat called me." He answered simply. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"She shouldn't have."

"She was worried about you." He retorted.

"She's the reason I'm the way I am. She has no right to worry about me." I said as I looked out at the large expanse of water before us.

Beck cleared his throat, and I looked at him suspiciously, "She uh, she told me what happened between you guys."

My eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"

"Back when you guys were sophomores. When you went to New York. Earlier today." He casually ticked off every situation on his fingers.

I rolled my eyes again, "That girl doesn't know what keeping something a secret means."

Beck let out a sigh, clearly he was anticipating me to react this way, "She wants to apologize. She doesn't think you want to hear form her."

"I don't." I paused for a moment before turning to look at him, "Why is it always you? Whenever people don't want to talk to me, they send you."

"I think they think you might listen to me." Beck said with a small playful smile. I couldn't deny it. Hearing something from Beck usually made me rethink whatever my initial reaction was. It was something about his calm demeanor. Or the fact that even if I wanted to deny, he still knew me better than most people. I couldn't help feeling like an open book around him.

We sat in silence listening to the waves crashing against the shore until Beck decided to speak, "Is that why you never said you loved me?"

We made eye contact, and I saw the sadness in his eyes, "I told you I loved you."

"I can probably count the occasions on one hand." He argued calmly.

He was right. He was completely right. I let out a small sigh, "I'm sorry, Beck. I really wasn't good to you."

He shrugged, "You were better than you give yourself credit for. Just because you never said it doesn't mean I didn't know it." He said, giving me a warm smile, which I returned gratefully.

"So I'm assuming Cat told you what brought me to her house in the first place?"

Beck nodded, "Yeah. I gotta tell you, I have a hard time believing Tori would do something to mess this up. She knows how hard it was for you to forgive her the first time."

"What do you think I should do?" I asked, looking at him as I bit my lip nervously.

"I can't tell you what to do, Jade. No one ever has been able to do that." He said with a laugh, "You gotta do what feels right for you. Come on, let's go get something to eat." He said as he nudged me and stood. He helped me to my feet and we walked to our cars.

We went to a diner close by and we talked. Not about Tori, but about everything else going on in our lives. Apparently he had started dating this new girl, but was terrified about bringing her around our friends.

"We're not that weird." I argued.

"It's not that. You guys are so protective. You saw the way everyone treated Tori over Christmas. And she's part of the group!"

I shrugged, unable to argue with that, "We don't like seeing people we love get hurt. It's as simple as that. But if you're happy, that should be good enough for us. So the next time we all get together, bring her okay?"

"Will you be on your best behavior?" Beck asked with a raised brow.

"I make no promises." I said shaking my head. Beck gave me a warning glare which caused me to laugh, "I'm kidding, Beck. I promise I won't threaten her with bodily harm."

"That's all I ask." He said with a smile.

We finished our meals and as we went to go our separate ways, Beck pulled me in for a hug, "It'll be okay, Jade. Just...please let her explain herself. If you don't buy it, do what you want. But just promise me you'll listen to her."

"Are you talking about Vega or Cat?" I asked when I pulled away.

"Both." He said simply before getting into his car.

I drove back to my house, surprised to see a candy apple red car in the driveway. Cat. I told her I didn't want to talk to her. Go figure she'd ignore everything I said. I pulled in, put my car in park and got out. While doing so, Cat stumbled out of her own car and made her way for me.

"I thought I said we shouldn't see each other for a while." I said icily as I walked into the house, leaving the door open for her anyway.

"I know, but you weren't answering my calls." Cat said as she followed me up the stairs to my room.

"Funny. Because I'm pretty sure I told you not to call me either." I said once we got into my room.

"Just listen to me, Jade! Please!" Cat begged as her voice strained and she tugged on my arm.

"No, Cat. I'm done. I'm over this. I can't keep playing your game. You said it yourself, I need to do what I can to be with Tori. And that's what I plan on doing. You're toying with me. It's like...if I'm happy you're okay, but the second I'm not you're convinced you know what to do to make me feel better, but in the end it just fucks me up." I said as I fought the tears.

She stood close to me, her hands gently sliding up my neck as she ghosted the lightest of kisses on my lips, "Just one last night?"

I shook my head, "I can't do that to her. She might not have kept her promise, but I will."

Cat took a step away and looked at me bewildered, "I shouldn't have come."

"You're right." I said coldly, keeping my eyes on the floor.

She walked to my door, but paused as she stood in the door frame, "I love you."

I took a deep breath, "I love you too, Cat." No matter what happens, I don't think I could ever not answer her when she says that. My tragic flaw.

"Jade," She said, her voice sounding small. I turned to look at her, "Do you think we'll ever be..."

I shook my head with closed eyes, "Please don't ask me that, Cat."

When I heard my front door close, I sat on my bed and looked at my phone. I had a voicemail. From Vega. I let out a sigh as I put the phone to my ear to listen. It began with a sniffle and her clearing her throat:

_Jade, please. It wasn't what it sounded like. I promise you that. I'm yours. No one else's. I don't want to be anyone else's. I know you're not going to answer your phone and that you probably won't listen to anything anyone says to you right now. I expected that. I'm taking a red eye, and when I get to Hollywood, I'm headed straight for you. Just please open the door when I get there. I...I love you, Jade._

She loves me. This wasn't Andre relaying an instinct he had. This was her. Her voice telling me she loves me. I realized that at some point I had started crying, and there was the smallest of smiles playing on my lips. I saved the voicemail and pulled up a new message:

_The door will always be open. Please don't make me regret that._

I might not have followed Beck's advice with Cat, but I was going to do it for Tori.

**I decided to do two more chapters before closing this one! So you've got this, and one more to look forward to. Lemme know what you guys are thinking. Until next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

I somehow managed to fall asleep after sending that message to Vega. Being thrown on a roller coaster of emotions can take a lot of out you, I suppose. I had awoken with a start, sitting up in my bed on top of the covers as I looked around my dark room. I heard someone coming down the hall and my pulse was kicked into overdrive. It wouldn't have been either of my parents. I don't think they've been on this side of the house for years, I don't even think they were home either. The door slowly started to open and through the moonlight coming in through my window I saw Vega standing in the doorway holding a bouquet of blood red roses.

"Hey." She said softly, clearly testing the waters.

"Turn on the lights." I ordered from my place on my bed in a gravely voice. She complied and at first we both squinted, looking away from each other until our eyes could adjust to the brightness.

"You left the door open." She stated, hope lacing her words.

"I said I would." I said after I cleared my throat, "What time is it?"

"Five." She said as she took another step in my room with the flowers extended.

I accepted them, albeit hesitantly, "I hate flowers." I grumbled.

"And yet you keep all of mine." She said, her lips twitching in a slight smile.

"Whatever." I said as I set them down on my night stand and tousled my messy hair.

"That text wasn't meant for you." Vega said quietly as she took a seat at the foot of my bed, turning her body towards me.

"I kinda figured." I said, rolling my eyes.

"It was to Andre." She said quickly. Fury coursed through my veins at the thought of her cheating on me with Andre. What the fucking _fuck_? After all that bull shit he told me on the phone and _he_ was the one fucking her. This has got to be a joke. Apparently my rage was obvious in my eyes because Vega quickly jumped so she was now kneeling in front of me, "No! It wasn't like that! At all! I flew out to Nashville this morning and Andre was helping me record my demo. It was a song I wrote for you. We just finished it and I wanted it to be a surprise when I came back." By the time she finished speaking, her words were soft and she looked at me with even softer eyes. She pulled out a CD envelope from her jacket pocket and handed it to me.

"You were the girl in the background." I said as I looked at the CD in my hands.

"What?" Vega asked, confused.

"I called Andre earlier to talk to him about that message. When I first mentioned it, he got a little weird but I just figured he was shocked like I was. Then I heard a girl in the background. It was you." I finished, looking back up to her.

"He didn't tell me you called." She said, tilting her head at me.

I shrugged, "He probably didn't want you to be any more off than you already were."

"So does everyone think I cheated on you?" Vega asked in a nervous tone.

"No. No one believed that you would do something like that." I answered, shaking my head. At that moment, I started thinking about what happened between Cat and I earlier. I had to tell her. There was no way I could walk away from this conversation feeling okay without telling her.

"What's wrong?" Vega asked, poking me in the knee to get my attention.

"Cat tried to kiss me." I said quietly, looking up at those beautiful amber eyes, "I went over to talk to her after I got the message, and we got into a fight so I left. When I got back here, she was waiting for me and she tried to kiss me."

Vega looked at me, her face pale. She looked like she was anticipating for the worst and I couldn't even tell if she was actually breathing, "So..." She whispered.

"I told her to leave." I said simply. Vega let out a subtle sigh of relief.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I looked away from her eyes and began playing with the fabric of my comforter.

"I mean, she's your best friend. She's _my_ best friend." Tori said and I could tell that she didn't really know how to handle the situation.

"Let her cool off. Things between us were intense, sometimes that's the only way two people know how to be. I'm sure...I'm sure that things will be fine once she's given some time. I mean, I don't think she meant anything by it. It's like what you said after New York. We're always trying to protect each other, fix what's causing pain. At that moment, it was you." I took a moment's pause before saying anything else, "Please don't hate her."

"She's Cat. Hating her is kind of hard to do. It's just...I didn't think she'd do something like that." Vega said with her mouth scrunched up in a way displaying her confusion with the situation in the cutest of ways.

I shook my head, "Let's not talk about that, okay? Let's talk about anything but that." Vega nodded, "A demo, huh?" I said with a small smile.

She looked at her lap, "Yeah, well Andre said I should start putting something together if he was going to start pushing me to his bosses. It made the most sense. Are you going to listen to it?" She asked, and I could hear the nervousness in her voice.

"No." I answered simply. She looked hurt and taken aback, especially after I started chuckling, "Not yet. I have something for you." I said as I climbed out of bed and walked over to my desk. I shuffled through one of the drawers and pulled out an envelope.

"What's that?" Vega asked as I walked over to her, clutching the paper in my hands.

"A letter. I wanted to give it to you before we left for school. I uh...chickened out. So here." I said, sheepishly handing over the letter before walked away from her and standing on the other side of the room. I watched as she cautiously opened the envelope and pulled out the paper inside of it. I could probably recite every word on that sheet.

_Vega- I suppose at this point after everything we've been through, I should call you by your real name. I probably won't though. Chances are, you're expecting that from me. That's something that only you can do to me: make me predictable. And I'm not exactly sure why that is because everything that has happened between us over the last few months has been anything but predictable. Why did this happen? Why did you kiss me that day at school? I've been far too scared to demand an answer from you, further than at that party at your house. I think it's because if I heard you say that you were doing this for any other reason besides you having feelings for me, it would destroy what little of a heart I have. In the beginning, I thought this was just a physical thing and had convinced myself that I was okay with that. Until you stopped calling me. I realized how badly I needed you at that point, but I think we both know how rare it is for me to admit something like that. So here you go, you have it in my handwriting. I, Jade West, needed you. Need you. So badly that it scares me. When you told me you thought I had been sleeping with both you and Cat at the same time, the hurt that was harbored in your eyes gave away your position on the matter. At that moment, I knew you needed me too. You can say that all of us leaving is a good enough excuse for us to not be together, but I don't believe you. You're just as scared as I am. The only difference between us is that I want to face this fear. If you change your mind, I'll be here. Begrudgingly, of course. But I'll be here. Because this is what you do to me, Tori, you make me want to be someone you would want to be with. -Jade_

I had been holding my breath the entire time as I watched her eyes pass over the words that took me so long to be okay with saying. Finally, she looked up at me with tear-brimmed eyes.

"You really loved me back then." She said softly

"Of course I did." I replied, casting my eyes on the ground. I heard her stand from the bed and soon she was in front of me, gently lifting my chin up so my eyes would connect with hers. We said nothing, but after that letter and the look in our eyes, I really don't think there was anything left to say. She kissed me gingerly, her lips brushed over mine a few times before I became tired of gentleness and cupped her face, keeping her lips on mine as my tongue prodded for entrance. I lifted her up as she wrapped her legs around my waist and carried her back to my bed.

"Oh Jade." She said in a breathy voice as I laid her down and crawled on top of her. I kissed down her neck, remembering the places that could make her body shudder with a simple bite. Her hands moved deftly to remove the black long-sleeved shirt I had been wearing, and soon my bra followed suit, piling on the floor. My hands felt like ice against the warm flesh of her stomach as I pulled up her shirt. She lifted herself off the bed high enough for the garment to be removed and discarded, along with her bra. My lips trailed down the smooth skin of her stomach as I paused briefly over her navel. I heard her let out a breathy, "Oh" before I continued my journey, tugging the denim from her legs and tossing it over my shoulder. I brushed my lips against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh before looping my fingers in the lacy blue fabric that kept me from my final destination.

"You're perfect." I whispered before delving in, enjoying how quickly her hands entangled themselves in my hair as her hips bucked against me. My name flowed from those perfect lips like a melody, doing nothing but enticing me further and giving me all the encouragement I needed. I felt her body shaking and soon she was thrown over the edge, her entire body tensing as her back arced completely off the bed before falling limp.

The room was silent as her breathing struggled to return to normal. I moved my body back up next to hers and brushed the hair out of her face as I studied the pleased expression she wore, her eyes closed delicately and the smallest of smirks gracing those lips.

"Jade." She said, her voice worn.

"I'm right here." I answered. She slowly moved to hover over me, placing her hips above mine, locking eyes with me before grinding down. A moan escaped my lips before any coherent thought could be created. My hands grasped her waist tightly, trying to encourage her movements. She stopped for a moment, and a whimper of disappointment came out of me. She slid her hands down my bare sides, pausing at the waistband of the leggings I had on before sliding them down, slowly exposing the pale skin of my thighs. I had neglected to wear underwear and the smirk she got when she noticed turned me on so badly.

"Tori." I said, waiting with bated breath for her next move once the fabric had pooled at the foot of my bed. She moved back up to me her lips ghosting a kiss on mine before she spoke.

"Tell me you love me." She said, her voice soft, yet demanding. My heart started pounding in my chest. That should be easy. It shouldn't be a problem to look her in the eyes and tell her how completely heels over head in love with her I was. Alas, my tongue had turned to cement in my mouth. She didn't look crestfallen, though. Instead, she placed open-mouthed kisses over every inch of my exposed body, and soon I was panting as she focused those kisses on one particular part of my body. Her movements were relentless and as my breaths became shorter and my nails dug deeper in her shoulder, I realized something: I did love her. And the love I felt for her was unparalleled to how I felt about Cat. Vega could elicit emotions from me that I hadn't felt with anyone else. I loved Cat, and I wanted her to be in my life forever, but not in the sense that I wanted Vega in my life. I wanted to wake up every morning to feel Vega's lips against my shoulder. I wanted to fight with her about stupid things, just to make up moments later. I wanted her to tell me when I was being difficult and hard headed, and I wanted to tell her when I thought she was being stubborn and frustrating.

My love for her should be erroneous. But it wasn't. It was unerring. To anyone else, it might be completely confusing and bewildering that the two of us could work. But we would do it. And it would be-

"Oh _fuck_." My voice shattered the silence of the room as I felt my body exploding in passion. My body slacked and soon hers fell next to me in exhaustion. I reached out for her hand and pulled her into me, "I love you. I love you. I love you." I whispered as I placed feather light kisses all over her face. She giggled at the action and looked at me with a smile. The way the happiness reached her eyes caused my entire body to vibrate, humming with happiness.

"We should get some sleep." She whispered.

"You're probably right." I agreed, and we climbed under the covers and she tucked herself into my side as we both fell into a blissful sleep.

We awoke a few hours later to the sound of someone knocking my bedroom door.

"Just a sec." I called out as I clamored out of the bed, reaching for something to cover myself with. I pulled my leggings on over my legs and grabbed the nearest shirt I saw, tugging it over my head.

"Who is it?" Vega asked as she rubbed sleep from her eyes, pulling on a pair of my shorts that had been on the floor.

"How the fuck should I know?" I grumbled. Hey, we might be together, but that doesn't excuse her from the fact that I'm still not a morning person. I casted a look back at her to make sure she was fully clothed before opening the door.

"Jade." Cat was standing on the other side of the door, looking at me through those doe eyes as she twirled her hair around her finger in a nervous way.

I steeled myself against that innocence, knowing full well what she was capable of, and what she had tried doing yesterday, "What are you doing here?"

"Your door was open. I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. You're with Tori, and I know you're happy. I talked to Andre and he told me everything." Cat spoke quickly before glancing past me, no doubt seeing Vega sitting on my bed. "Hi Tori."

"Hi Cat." Vega answered meekly.

"You shouldn't be apologizing to me, Cat. You should be apologizing to her." I said, nodding back to my girlfriend. _My girlfriend_. I took a step back, allowing her to enter the room. She walked in as though this was all new territory for her, as if she hadn't been in Vega's position multiple times.

"Tori, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done it, and I completely understand if you hate me forever and never want to see me again. But she just looked so sad, and I didn't know what to do, and then I got really mad thinking that you could do that to her again." Cat rambled off hectically, moving her hands around sporadically as she spoke.

"Cat, Cat, calm down!" Vega said loudly, reaching over and grabbing for Cat's hands to silence her.

"Do you hate me?" Cat asked, tears welling in her eyes.

"No. I don't." Vega said calmly, "I just want you to know that I'm not planning on hurting Jade. Never. I love her." As she finished, I could feel the blush spreading across my cheeks.

Cat looked conflicted as she stood there in silence. She took a moment's pause, clearly mulling over the situation she was in before letting out a sigh and smiling up at Vega, "Good. Because Jade's the best there is." Cat said, looking back at me. She did a double take and gave me a confused look.

"What?" I asked.

"Your shirt..." She trailed off. I looked down. I had grabbed Vega's shirt in the rush to answer the door and it was stretched tightly over my chest with a good portion of my stomach exposed.

"Fucking A, Vega." I said with a laugh. The other two joined in, which diffused some of the tension that had built up in the room. The three of us spent the rest of the day together, granted Cat gave Vega and I time to actually dress decently. I prayed that whatever had happened between Cat and I wouldn't be a problem, and wouldn't cause any more problems in the future. Things seemed like they were going all right so far.

When the time came for Vega to finally move home for good, excited doesn't even begin to cover how I felt. Things were finally good. Really good. It seemed like the situation between Cat and I could be officially left in the past. There were some awkward moments between Cat and Vega, but I suppose that could be expected.

Halfway into July, I found myself being chased around the Vega household by my irritatingly happy girlfriend.

"Nothing's going to get solved if you don't talk about it!" Vega cooed as she followed me down the stairs.

"Good!" I shouted over my shoulder as I stormed through the living room and into the kitchen.

"What is going on with you two?" Mrs. Vega asked as she stopped unloading the groceries on the counter and looked at us with concern in her eyes.

I turned and gave Vega a pointed glare, testing her to see if she'd break the promise she had made to me earlier. She glared back at me, clearly planning what her next move would be. She bit down on her lip and smirked.

"I don't see why you're so nervous," she began, clearly ignoring her mother's inquiry, "the director already said he loved the script and wanted to pick it up for a film. He just wants to meet with you to discuss the details."

"A script!" Vega's mom exclaimed excitedly.

"Vega!" I shouted.

"Hey, I didn't _tell_ her, she overheard us talking." Vega answered smugly.

"Oh, that is the biggest load of bull sh-"

"Language!" Vega's mom scolded me. I let out a sigh, surrendering the current argument and falling limply into a chair at the kitchen table.

When Vega came home from school, we had decided to sit her parents down and tell them about our relationship. When we did, they laughed and told us that they already knew. Apparently they thought we were dating all the way back in high school, shortly after when Beck and I broke up.

"Sweetie, what are you so nervous about?" Mrs. Vega asked.

"It's the first script I ever wrote. I don't want them to mess up the way I saw everything when I wrote it." I grumbled, uncomfortable with having to open up about this with anyone that wasn't Vega.

"Well, what's it about?" Vega's mom asked.

Vega and I both blushed slightly at the question.

"It's about how Vega and I...came to be. The guy called it a new twist on a classic love story." I answered sheepishly. Vega's mom gave us a warm smile and nodded her understanding.

"I get why you'd be nervous about that, Jade. But you'll never know until you try." Mrs. Vega said in a comforting tone. Christ, this woman has become more of a mother to me than my own. And I was completely okay with that.

I let out a dramatic sigh, letting my body slump further in the chair. I heard Vega laugh and soon a pair of tan arms wrapped around my neck. I sat up slightly, putting a hand on one arm and turning my head to place a gentle kiss on her other arm.

"Just promise me you'll go to that meeting." She said softly, "This could be your big break, babe."

"Fine. I'll go." I said, and soon I was being squeezed tightly and suddenly let go as Vega flounced around the kitchen, her excitement practically oozing out of her. I tried my best to act irritated, but I couldn't stop the smirk on my lips from spreading to a full blown grin.

Three years later, and I'm running around the apartment I share with Vega, frantically throwing things.

"I'm so fucking late." I said loudly as I rummaged through my jewelry box, looking for a pair of earrings.

"Calm down, Jade." Vega said, coming up from behind me and holding out the earrings I had been looking for. I grabbed them and hastily put them on as I ran to the other side of the room. I heard Vega laugh, "You need to breathe, okay? Can you do that for me?" She said as she approached me again, turning me to face her and gently cupping my cheeks in her hands, "You are beautiful. You are so, so talented. And you're going to win tonight." She smiled and kissed me.

The script-turned movie was nominated for several awards, and what I was frantically getting ready for was the award show that would be beginning in a few short hours. Vega didn't understand that it wasn't the nominations that I was nervous about. As she walked back into the bathroom to finish getting herself ready, I reached for my coat and shoved my hand in the pocket, pulling out the small felt box.

I was nervous because, regardless of winning or losing, I was going to ask Vega to be my wife at the after-party.

The next few hours seemed surreal. Being at an actual award show. Getting my picture taken with my beautiful girlfriend on the red fucking carpet. Winning. We won. Best Writing. I couldn't stop shaking when I tried giving my thanks to everyone. It took me a moment, but I got everything out that I had briefly planned in the slim chance that I would actually win.

The after party was filled with people shaking my hand and congratulating me, telling me how excited they were for my next work. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"So what do you have planned next?" One of the actresses from the film asked me as she sipped her champagne.

Now seemed like a good time to do it. So I cleared my throat and looked over at Tori who was beaming at me with pride, "Well, I've something I've been wanting to do for a long time." Confusion broke across Vega's beautiful features as she tilted her head. I was hoping someone in that giant room was filming this, because I wanted to replay the way Vega's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as I slowly lowered myself to one knee. The entire room went silent and all eyes were on us.

"Victoria Vega, you drive me crazy. The good kind and sometimes the bad kind. I don't know what I did right to be blessed with you in my life, and sometimes I don't even understand what you see in someone like me. But I love you, and you make me someone worth loving. I guess what I would like to know is," I paused as I pulled the ring out of the small purse I had been carrying, "would you...Will you...Marry me?" I asked, my voice trembling as I spoke.

"Jade, get that beautiful dress off the floor and put that ring on my finger." Vega said, her smiling nearly splitting her face. I obeyed her orders and the entire room erupted in applause and even more congratulations. She took my face in her hands and kissed me soundly, "You are absolutely insane, you know that?"

"It's what you do to me." I replied, kissing her again as flashes of light erupted over my closed lids. I couldn't tell if it was photographs being taken, or just the joy of knowing Victoria Vega would be mine for the rest of our lives.

**The end! Hope you guys enjoyed it. And thanks for sticking through to the very end. Let me know how you liked it! Expect to see something new from me in the future.**


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